
OassJLMll 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



^ 



?^ 




/ 



Author's Autoqraph: Kdition. 



FOUR YEARS 

IN 

REBEL CAPITALS: 



A A' INSIDE VIE JV OF LIFE IN THE 

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, FROM BIRTH TO DEATH; 

FROM ORIGINAL NOTES, 

COLL A TED IN THE YEARS iS6i TO i86s. 



By T. C. DeLeon, 

AUTHOR OF " CREOI.E AND PURITAN," "THE PURITAN'S DAUGHTER," 
"JUNY," ETC. 



WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR 

By Louis de V. Chaudron. 



' In the land where we were dreaming !" 

— D. B. Lucas. 

' I leave it to men's charitable speeches, to foreign 
nations and to the next ages." 

— Francis Bacon. 



MOBILE, ALA.: 
THE GOSSIP PRINTING COMPANY. 

1S92. 



^01 



35608 



Entered according tu act of Congress, in the year 1890, 

By the gossip PRINTING COMPANY, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



• VWOOOPIfi^ KECEIVEO. 



■^'^.\, 



^>^ 



^"JL 5 ^ 1889 )] 



^^of 09fl^^ 




PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



In offering another new edition of this work to that public which 
has so graciously received previous ones, the publishers aim to meet a 
seeming omission in the latter. 

Frequent requests come to them from various parts of the country, 
asking for Mr. DeLeon's photograph and autograph. To comply with 
them is not practicable ; and the present is made an " Author's Autograph 
Edition," Mr. DeLeon having signed every one of the portraits. These 
are the latest made, from a photograph taken expressly for this purpose. 
Of them the author recently wrote : 

" They are not so flattering as those vanity-breeders, lately published 
by my good friends of ' Lippincott's,' but they seem to me nearer to 
the truth of History teaching by reflection." 

As another point of probable interest to the curious, estimates from 
the widely differing minds of two noted people are appended to this note. 
The letters of Mrs. Wilson and General Johnson were printed in the 
current newspapers of their day. Concreted here, in form as they then 
appeared, they may prove of interest to the reader of the future. 

[From the New Orleans P/cay/inc] 

AUTHORESS TO AUTHOR. 

The latest book written by Mr. T. C. Delvcon, of Mobile, is called 

" Four Years in Rebel Capitals," and is dedicated to Mrs. Augusta Evans 

Wilson, the famous Southern novelist. That lady has just written its 

author the following characteristic and complimentary letter : 

At Home, July 17, 1890. 
Dear Mr. DeLeon : 

Since the arrival of the handsome copy of " Four Years in Rebel 
Capitals," I have laid aside all engagements and devoted every hour to the 
study of your vivid photographs of that sacred and inexpressibly dear 
Confederate era, the bare memory of which brings back the old glow of 
pride in Southern heroism. Accept my cordial congratulations upon the 
polished and elegant diction, the genuine pathos, the unanswerable logic, 
and the brilliant, critical acumen that characterize your last and — may I 
add ? — incomparably best book. 

As I close its thrilling pages— wherein I lived over again the "storm 
and stress " of those terril)le yet glorious four years — my eyes are dim and 
my heart throbs with the proud consciousness that Time, and his hand- 
maid, Histor}^, will yet build shrines and pedestals for the nameless martyrs 

(3) 



4 Publishers' Note. 

whose multitudinous graves make our war-scarred Southern fields a vast 
and veritable dunpo Sanio. 

Of various kind tributes from many friends, I think I shall value most 
your complimentary association of my name with this brilliant record of 
Confederate valor and endurance, which deserves an honored niche in 
every family library from Potomac to Rio Grande. 

Believing that the success of your book will prove commensurate 
with its literary value and historic importance, I nevertheless clasp very 
proudly this sturdy Godchild, who, in performance of patriotic devoir 
needs no sponsorial aid, and am. Gratefully, your friend, 

Augusta Evans Wilson. 

[From the Mobile Rcgistc>.'\ 

GENERAL JOHNSON'S PRAISE, COUPLED WITH AN INTERESTING 

BIT OF INSIDE HISTORY OF THE WAR. 

General Bradley T. Johnson, of Baltimore, the famous commander of 

"The Maryland Line" and "Jackson's right-hand," sends a Christmas 

greeting to the author of " Four Years in Rebel Capitals," which has the 

old ring in it. The letter is a personal one, but the I\i\i^ister desires its 

reproduction for the double reason that it commends a Mobile book, from 

a competent standpoint, and besides tells a bit of history itself: 

My dear De Leon : Baltimore, December 27, 1S90. 

I have given this afternoon to the enjoyment of the first eighteen 
chapters of the Four Years ; and I stop to thank you for it. 

Such a graphic picture of men and events will be invaluable to our 
future Macaulay, and to our posterity will be above price. The photo- 
graph you give of Mrs. Davis' drawing-room is exquisite. I never was 
there but once ; just after second Manassas, when I marched in— booted 
and dirty and straight from the train — with a letter from Jackson to the 
president. 

I never quite knew whether he liked my soldierly unconventionality ; 
for he may have thought I ought to have presented myself in better guise 
to the commander-in-chief But I had been trained to believe that 
promptness was the highest military virtue, so I lost not a moment in 
doing what I was sent to do. 

But there was no doubt to the battle-stained soldier, of what she 
thought and felt. She was glad to see me ; and I believe I that night 
promised to capture a Yankee flag for her, and she then and there 
captured my heart. I sent her the flag in '64, as she records in her 
memoirs. 

Again thanking you, I am your obliging comrade, 

Bradley T. Johnson. 



SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR 

OF 

"Four Years in Rebel Capitals." 



THOMAS COOPER DeLEON was born of good old Spanish parentage, 
at Columbia, South Carolina. His mother was Miss Rebecca Lopez, 
and his father, Dr. M. H. DeLeon, was for fifty years the leading physician 
of Columbia, one of the oldest, most aristocratic and most interesting 
towns in the Palmtree State. 

It is probable that the cultivated society of antebellum days in 
Columbia developed the literary tastes of Dr. DeLeon's family; for, of six 
children, of whom T. C. DeLeon was the youngest, three became promi- 
nent, if not famous, in the world of letters. 

The eldest brother, D. Camden DeLeon, embraced his father's profes- 
sion and achieved reputation as a surgeon in the United States' army 
during the Seminole and Mexican wars. He was the first Surgeon-General 
of the Confederacy, and was well known, his life through, as a valued con- 
tributor to medical reviews. 

The second brother, Edwin DeLeon, was educated for the bar, but he 
abandoned law for editorial life. By invitation of Southern Senators 
he went to Washington in 1850, and, under their auspices, founded 
the Southern Press, an influential paper of the day. His subsequent 
appointment, by President Pierce, as Diplomatic Agent and Consul- 
General to Egypt is well known to the public. While in Egypt, Edwin 
DeLeon established his reputation as scholar and diplomat. His thought- 
ful works on the Egyptian situation, or puzzle, 'and Oriental politics and 
social life, are too familiar to call for mention of their titles. Both 
Camden and Edwin DeLeon are dead. 

Three sisters come between these distinguished brothers and the 
subject of this sketch. One of them, Agnes, acquired some reputation as 
a translator and writer. 

T. C. DeLeon was named for Dr. Thomas Cooper, who, at the time of 
DeLeon's birth, was President of the State University of South Carolina. 
Dr. Cooper was an intimate friend of De Leon's father, and himself reared 
a family remarkable for cultivation and brilliant accomplishments. So 

(5) 



6 Skiic/i of the Author. 

it seems as if Cooper DeLeon — as he is familiarh- called— inherits his 
mental endowments, by dual right, from both father and godfather. 

His preparatory education was at Rugby Acadenij-, District of Columbia, 
and subsequently at Georgetown University. The stormy events of '59 
and '60 put an end to his hopes for a still more severe course of university 
training. At Rugby he was a classmate of Henry Watterson, and at 
Georgetown of J. R. Randall ; the two men have been his lifetime friends. 
Nothing could better express the versatility of DeLeon's talents than the 
following excerpt from a letter of Randall's, written several years ago : 

(J. R. Rand.-iU, ill Constitutionalist oi 1S70.] 

" Years ago, when both of us were callow school bo3-s. the writer of 
this had the happiness of playing marbles and capping verses with the 
managing editor of the Register, T. C. DeLeon. Compiler of rhj-mes, a 
clever poet on his own hook, a translator of French fiction, and writer of 
all kinds of English prose. Colonel DeLeon is at home wherever pen and 
paper can be found. If pen and paper are in the vocative, a rust}- nail and 
a white wall will do as well. At one time we hear of him negotiating for 
the Board of Trade with Western railroads; at another time leading the 
' German ' at the Battle House hops. He is the man who started the 
Cuba sensation and gold for cotton movement. Pre%-ious to these bursts 
he had, at a sitting, penetrated the mysteries of the Ku-Klux Klan, and 
sold in one day 17.000 pamphlet revelations to just as many gulls. He has 
been in Mobile but six months, and can identify everj' brick and diagnose 
every o\-ster shell. The oldest inhabitant goes to him for instri;ction in 
antiquities, and the Russian gymnast, Pfau, had hints from him concerning 
the flviug trapeze. What DeLeon does not know is not worth knowing, 
and what he can not do b)' strategy is not worth attempting bj- force. He 
will not hesitate to dispute with Albert Stein about the navigation of the 
Appomattox river, and, if needs be, trepan the skull of a ' man and a 
brother ' in the absence of a regular surgeon. Read}', available, quick- 
witted, accomplished, rapid, brilliant — such is Cooper DeLeon. His 
versatile talents and warm affections were never more la\nshly displayed 
than when the Press members met at Mobile and he wore himself to a 
specter in their service; he was invaluable, and we all recognize the fact. 
It will not do to wish that his shadow may never grow less, for it is not in 
the memory of man that he ever cast a shadow ; but if good luck should 
desert him at last, so that he miss the leap into highest heaven, we, the 
petitioners, pray that he raaj' glide like a sprite into the paradise of 
Mahomet." 

As a boy at school, DeLeon, together with Randal! and other literary 
lights more or less brilliant, developed his taste for letters and gained 
considerable applause. His verses and criticisms were published in the 



Skcic/i of the Ant hoy. i 7 

Literary Messenger, of Richmond, then the leading magazine of the 
South. 

At eighteen years of age he was lured to Washington by a promise of 
appointment to West Point made him by Jefferson Davis. The reasons 
why Mr. Davis did not fulfill this promise will be known as long as history 
lasts. Davis recognized the ability of his protege, however, and tendered 
him a position which was confidential and which associated him intimately 
with his illustrious patron. 

It was a critical period, that, when the Young Giant was quickening 
in the womb of Columbia, Jefferson Davis was watching the situation 
with the utmost anxiety, and DeLeon was close enough to him to be 
apprised of every phase of the approaching awful event. When the 
Dragon saw the light, and its liniaments told the world that its ancestry 
was of " Betla ! Horrida Bella ! " DeLeon was sent to Montgomery with 
despatches to assist at the christening of the frightful child whose birth 
he had attended. His coadjuvancy with the men who rocked the '' Cradle 
of the Confederacy" continued until the dirge of secession was sung by 
Father Ryan. So he had exceptional advantages for the compilation of 
the book which made his fame — "Four Years in Rebel Capitals." The 
mere mention of this admirable book tempts discussion of it ; but that 
must be deferred. 

When the curtain fell upon the fourth 5'ear and last act of the bloody 
drama, DeLeon, finding no field in the devastated South for a man of his 
temperaiuent, sought that Mecca of Americans, New York. There his 
talents did him good service, and his work on periodicals and newspapers 
gained him reputation at once. His letters over the noiii de pluiiie of 
■'Dunne Browne" have been models for newspaper correspondents for 
twent)' years. Papers from every point of the compass competed for his 
letters, and during this busy period he found time to collect and publish, 
under the title of " South Songs," the first'systematic arrangement of the 
war poems of the South. Later attempts to preserve these "Sagas" of 
the South owe much to DeLeon's efforts to rescue them from oblivion. 
While in New York, his burlesque exposure of the Ku-Klux Klan is 
alluded to by Randall in the letter quoted. It did much to destroy popu- 
lar belief in that phantasm of the politician's brain. Some free translations 
from the French came from his pen, among which was one that marks the 
single instance in DeLeon's literary career when he permitted himself to 
use the ink-bottle of a Zola, or an Edgar Saltus. It was a mistake, and for 
the sake of one who has always been clean in his writing, it is easy to for- 
get that the brilliant name of its author tempted him to translate what 
may be called, also, Octave Feuillet mistake, " Caniors." 

During the memorable "Seymour and Blair " campaign, the letters of 
"Dunne Browne" attracted so much attention that the author of them 



8 Sketch of the Author. 

was offered the position of mauaging editor of the Mobile Daily Register. 
The Register was the most powerful Democratic organ of the South, 
and, at the time, was edited by the celebrated John Forsyth, its war 
editor, and a bold and uncompromising advocate of the doctrine of State's 
rights. DeLeon accepted the offer, and many of his articles on current 
politics were credited to his famous confrere. Upon the retirement of 
Mr. Forsych, DeLeon became editor-in-chief and conducted the paper on 
the lines laid down by Mr. Forsyth, with whom he was in complete har- 
mony. 

About this time man}' of DeLeon's friends and contemporaries were 
making themselves famous — notably, Watterson, Heise, of Nashville, 
Randall, at Augusta, Dill and the two Dimitries, in New Orleans. All of 
them were working in a sacred cause, and all were potent factors in the 
rejuvenation of the South. 

After the struggle for white supremacy — scarcely less bitter to the 
instinctive aristocracy and the Latin sensibilities of Southerners than 
was their late defeat — DeLeon gave rein to his cherished desire and vacated 
the tripod for lighter realms of literature. Successful he may have been 
in his chosen paths, but none the less was he mistaken, for he was born an 
essayist and an editor, his faculties being more critical and analytical than 
creative. 

During his busy life as editor and managing editor of the Register, 
DeLeon was constant!}' writing articles for magazines ; demonstrating an 
untiring energy and a faculty for work that are almost incomprehensible. 
His contributions to Harper's, Appleton's, Leslie's, Lippincott's and other 
periodicals would fill a volume or two. 

Every author has his secret ambition, as every man has his hobby, and 
Cooper DeLeon's aspiration was to become a playwright. The remark- 
able success of his burlesque of Hamlet, under the title of " Hamlet, Ye 
Dismal Prince," played by George Fox for one hundred nights in New 
York, when runs of that length were phenomenal, drew him away from 
more serious work to dramatic writing. Lawrence Barrett, George Clarke, 
Daniel Bandmann and other celebrities of the stage accepted his plays 
and presented them to the public. "Pluck," "Jasper'' (a dramatization 
of Dickens' '• Edwin Drood ") and "The Days of the Commune " are the 
best known of DeLeon's dramatic works. He is a skillful translator from 
the French, and proffered in English, Sardou's play, from which Bartley 
Campbell pilfered his great jewel scene in " The Galley Slave." It is not 
generally known that Sardou himself is not original in this scene, it being 
identical with one in ''Bertrand etRatand," by the immortal Scribe. 

DeLeon's fondness for the drama brought him into direct contact 
with the stage through a lease of the Mobile Theater, which he managed 
from 1873 until 1SS4. During his career as a manager, however, he 



Sketch of the Author. 9 

preserved his associations with newspapers and magazines, dashing oif 
here an article and there a criticism or an essay, with all the characteristic 
writing instinct of the man. 

After giving np the direction of the Mobile Theater, DeLeon devoted 
himself to fiction and historic reminiscences. His first pronounced suc- 
cess in the realm of fiction was " Creole and Puritan," a brilliant story 
published in Lippincott^s Magazine. A year later followed "Juny: or 
Only One Girl's Story," which was not worthy of its author. After 
''Juny," DeLeon breathed an atmosphere grateful to his gifts, and, work- 
ing in it, gave to the literature of the Confederacy " Four Years in Rebel 
Capitals." This remarkable book deserves a place in libraries side by 
side with Jefferson Davis' great work. Both will furnish pabulum for the 
commentator on and student of the American Civil War, as long as the war 
remains a matter of interest to the world. DeLeon's chapters on Blockade 
Running and the Finances of the Confederacy are simply inspirations : 
they point to the accuracy of the assertion that he never should have 
abandoned the chair of the essayist for the allurements of fiction and the 
drama. 

The success of " Four Years in Rebel Capitals " was instantaneous. 
The press, on both sides of the ocean, pronounced the book to be a price- 
less contribution to the annals of the Civil War. Its author modestly 
declared it '' nothing but an attempt at historic sketching ; " but the 
sketching was so deftly done that even Mr. Gladstone wrote an autographic 
letter commending the ethics and the power of it. 

The originality of the views presented in this book, the calm, judicial 
tone in which the author discusses his theme, the touches of humor and 
pathos descriptive of the awful duel between the brothers of the North 
and South, submit to the reader the cleanest and most vivid description of 
the strife between those brothers that has as yet been given to the world. 
The graphic narrative of the last sorrowful campaign of the mighty Lee, 
and the story of the last sad hours, as a General, of that incomparable 
man, equal in pathos anything that has been written of the Great 
Emperor, so loved and feared by men. Nothing that DeLeon has done is 
comparable to this book. Randall used his words well when he said that 
it was " The prose epic of the bloody Confederate drama ; " but Randall 
forgot to add that it was no less historic than epic. 

Since this work appeared, Mr. DeLeon has surrendered, vi et annis, to 
the Siren, Fiction. A sequel to "Creole and Puritan," not equal to that 
story, was published in Mobile. It was called " A Puritan's Daughter," 
and while it was a bright and pretty romance, it relied too much, for motif, 
upon the antecedent tale. In descriptive power of both scenes and events, 
and in absolute fairness in weighing the sectional differences between the 
people of the North and South, "A Puritan's Daughter " reaches the plane 



TO Sketch of the Author. 

occupied by ''Creole and Puritan"; but no "sequel" ever achieved the 
distinction of, or equaled, its elder brother. 

In many respects " A Fair Blockade Breaker " shows more descriptive 
ability than anj- of DeLeon's stories. The ride through the snow b}* night 
rises to an3thing in " Creole and Puritan," not forgetting, either, the 
scene on the race-course, based upon an occurrence of which Captain 
Charles King, soldier and author, was the hero. The purpose, too, if the 
term may be used, of "A Fair Blockade Breaker," is better and more 
natural than that of any of Mr. DeLeon's romantic fancies. It is under- 
stood to be the first of a series of modern " Tales of the Border," and the 
field is one in which much that is brilliant may be expected from the 
author of them. One point of superiority in this first "Tale" — the 
critics unite in saying— is the fearless and unbiased method of handling 
delicate themes. Questions of doctrine and issues which have been set- 
tled since the period in which the plot is laid, but which were burning at 
the time, are dwelt upon with singular fairness. This, no doubt, was 
what lifted the fiction from the literary columns of many newspapers to 
their editorial pages. Henry Watterson wrote in the Courier-Jouifial: 

" In his allegiance to his art Mr. DeL,eon sacrifices no part of his 
loyalt}- to his blood and birth. The moral of his writing is entirely just 
and sound. But the fact remains — and it is this which is noteworth)' — that 
our interest centers in a Northern rather than in a Southern group ; and 
that, as for the author, we lose all trace of his identity. 

" He might be a Tolstoi, or a Turgeneff, if a Russian could be suspected 
of knowing so much of our inner life. He might be a George Sand, or 
an Alphonse Daudet, his work is so deft and liis personality so withdrawn- 
He does not appear as a Southerner at all ; and he could not be a 
Northerner." 

Mr. DeLeon has sounded nearly ever}^ note in the gamut of literature, 
from philosoph}- to burlesque. Were not one assured of the fact, it would 
be hard to believe that the author of "Four Years in Rebel Capitals" had 
evolved the well-known parody of Amelie Rives, "The Rock or the R)-e." 
There is a vein of good-humored satire, however, that permeates all of 
Delyeon's work ; so, perhaps, that betrays the author, and is, to paraphrase 
Shakespeare, '• the one touch that makes his work akin." " The Rock or 
the Rye " ran to a twenty-eighth edition and won the laughing applause of 
the fair j'oung authoress whose story it caricatured. 

DeLeon has invoked the Muse, Thalia ; but he does not call himself a 
poet. His best efforts in lyric verse are " Asleep with Jackson," an ode to 
Stonewall Jackson, and "Paladin and Poet," a tribute to Robert Lee and 
Father Ryan. When the latter was published, among many notes and 
letters of approval, Mr. DeLeon received autographic ones from Cardinal 
Gibbous and Bishop Keene. " Sybilla, A Romaunt of the Town," a clever 



^ 



Sketch of the Aiithor. 1 1 

satire in verse on society, met with much success, and is now published in 
handsome souvenir form. 

Mr. DeLeon's active literary life has not made of him an idler in 
material affairs. He is an indefatigable worker in everything, commercial 
or otherwise, that is of interest to the city of his choice — Mobile. His 
strong, incisive pen and his time are ever at the command of his towns- 
men, and no task is too great for him to undertake if there is a shadow of 
hope that hislabor will redound to the benefit of his quaint old city. 

He is a "many-sided " man and delves into everything but politics. 
He says he has '' reformed " since he severed his connection with the oldest 
and one of the most influential Democratic organs of the South, the 
Rcs;ister ; yet he has never lost his love for the craft with which he lived 
so long ; most of his books are dedicated to members of it, to people of 
renown in the world of magazines and newspapers — and, as he knows a 
newspaper from the press-room to the sanctum, he is a welcomed guest in 
the offices of every paper where his name is known. 

Delvcon has never neglected his social duties, and framed, as he is, 
peculiarly, for the discharge of them, it is not strange that his reputation 
as a leader of the '' German '' was, at one time, almost equal to his name 
as a book-maker. This social side of his nature carried him into the car- 
nivals of the South, of which he has managed a dozen in as many cities. 

Mr. DeLeon is a bachelor. In person he is of medium height, lithe 
and active, and his face and nervous, restless temperament point distinctly 
to his Latin origin. In days of yore he was a fair athlete, and has not 
forgotten how to handle a foil with grace and some danger to his antago- 
nist. He is fond of good dinners and is not averse to a supper at the hours 
when Dick Steele used to think out, or drink out, essays for The Specta- 
tor. A lover of good horses is the author of "A Puritan's Daughter," 
and it is curious that an episode in that story, based upon an actual experi- 
ence on the famous Shell road on Mobile bay, has been alluded to by 
some press critics as '"almost life-like." 

Mr. DeLeon's knowledge of literature, his accurate acquaintance with 
current events and his bright wit, flavored by a merry sarcasm that does 
not poison it, make him a charming conversationalist. He is no orator 
and never makes a speech, but he is a good raconteur and maintains him- 
self easily whatever may be his surroundings. 

One thing no critic can den}- DeLeon — the* cleanliness of his pen. 
With all his Bohemian nature, his fondness for pleasure and his gregarious 
disposition, he has never permitted himself to compose anything in that 
sphere of prurient writing into which, unhappily, have been enticed so 
many book-makers and book- sellers of the day. 

All that he does is pure. His love-making is invariablj' sweet and 
true ; his heroines never descend to sensuality, and his heroes are not of 



12 Sketch of the Author. 

those who kiss their sweethearts for their lips alone and forget that they 
have consciences and hearts. 

The vast majority of the people in the world are opposed to evil 
things, and the reading portion of that majority will thank DeLeon, who, 
in spite of opportunities to make money and a certain sort of fame by 
befouling his pen, has consistently and sternly refused, since " Camors," 
to stain the firesides of his readers, or thrust into the sacred precincts of 
their homes that accursed character of literature which excites and stings 
into action the most subtle and dangerous passions of the human heart. 

IvOUIS deV. Chaudron. 



To MY VALUED FRIEND, 

MRS. AUGUSTA EVANS WILSON, 

AS ONE LITTLE TOKEN OE APPRECIATION OF A LIFE-WORK 

DEDICATE TO HER SEX, TO HER SECTION 

AND TO TRUTH, 

THESE SKETCHES 

OF LIFE BEHIND OUR CHINESE WALI« 
ARE INSCRIBED. 



IN PLACE OF PREFACE, 



Fortunate, indeed, is the reader who takes up a volume without 
preface ; of which the persons are left to enact their own drama and 
the author does not come before the curtain, like the chorus of Greek 
tragedy, to speak for them. 

But, in printing the pages that follow, it may seem needful to ask 
that they be taken for what they are; simple sketches of the inner 
life of " Rebeldom" — behind its Chinese wall of wood and steel — 
during those unexampled four years of its existence. 

Written almost immediately after the war, from notes and recol- 
lections gathered during its most trying scenes, these papers are now 
revised, condensed and formulated for the first time. In years past, 
some of their crude predecessors have appeared — as random articles — 
in the columns of the Mobile Sunday Times, Appleton's Journal, the 
Louisville Courier -Journal, the Philadelphia Times and other publica- 
tions. 

Even in their present condensation and revision, they claim only 
to be simple memoranda of the result of great events ; and of their 
reaction upon the mental and moral tone of the southern people, 
rather than a record of those events themselves. 

This volume aspires neither to the height of history, nor to the 
depths of political analysis ; for it may still be too early for either, or 
for both, of these. Equally has it resisted temptation to touch on 
many topics — not strictly belonging inside the Southern Capitals — 
still vexed by political agitation, or personal interest. These, if un- 
settled by dire arbitrament of the sword, must be left to Time and 
his best coadjutor, "sober second-thought." 

Campaigns and batdes have already surfeited most readers; and 
their details — usually so incorrectly stated by the inexpert — have little 
to do with a relation of things within the Confederacy, as they then 
appeared to the masses of her people. Such, therefore, are simply 
touched upon in outline, where necessary to show their reaction upon 
the popular pulse, or to correct some flagrant error regarding that. 

To the vast majority of those without her boundaries — to very 
many, indeed, within them — realities of the South, during the war, 

5 



6 In Place of Preface. 

were a sealed book. False impressions, on many important points, 
\vere disseminated; and these, because unnoted, have grown to 
proportions of accepted truth. A few of them, it may not yet be too 
late to correct. 

While the pages that follow fail not to record some weaknesses in 
our people, or some flagrant errors of their leaders, they yet endeavor 
to chronicle faithfully heroic constancy of men, and selfless devotion 
of women, whose peers the student of History may challenge that 
vaunting Muse to show. 

To prejudiced provincialism, on the one side, they may appear too 
lukewarm ; by stupid fanaticism on the other, they may be called 
treasonable. But — written without prejudice, and equally without 
fear, or favor — they have aimed only at impartial truth, and at near- 
est possible correctness of narration. 

Indubitably the war proved that there were great men, on both 
the sides to it ; and, to-day, the litde men on either— " May profit 
by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it! " 

The sole object kept in view was to paint honestly the inner life 
of the South; the general tone of her people, under strain and priva- 
tion unparalleled ; the gradual changes of society and character in 
the struggling nation — in a clear, unshaded oudine of things as they 
were. 

Should this volume at all succeed in giving this ; should it uproot 

one false impression, to plant a single true one in its place, then has 

it fuUv equaled the aspiration of 

THE AUTHOR. 

Mobile, Ala., June 25, 1S90. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS, 



PAGE. 

CHAPTER I. — The Forehead of the Storm 11-20 

Washington City in 1861. — Her two Social Circles — Was she a new 
Sodom? — Lobbyists and Diplomats — Eve of the Storm — Echo from 
Charleston Harbor — A Dinner and a Ball — Popular Views of the Situa- 
tion — Buchanan's Policy and the *' Peace Congress " — Separation a Cer- 
tainty — Preparations for the Hejira — Precautions for Lincoln's Inaugu- 
ration — Off for Dixie. 

CHAPTER II. — The Cradle of the Confederacy 21-29 

Through Richmond, the Carolinas and Georgia — Wayside Notes — 
The Masses Willing but Unprepared — Where were the Leaders? — The 
First Capital — A New Flag — Hotels and their Patrons — Jefferson Davis 
— The Man and the Government— Social Matters — The Curbstone Con- 
gress — Early Views of the Struggle — A Notable "Mess." 

CHAPTER III. — Congress and Cabinet 30-35 

Bloodless Revolution — Glances at the Congress — Its Personnel and its 
Work — Party Hacks in Place — Wind vs. Work — What People said of 
the Solons — The New Cabinet — Heads of Departments Sketched— -The 
President's Advisers — Popular Opinion — The First Gun at Sumter. 

CHAPTER IV. — "The Awakening of the Lion." 36-41 

Sumter's Effect on Public Feeling — Would There be a Long War — 
or any ?— Organizing an Army — The Will of the People — How Women 
Worked — The Camps a Novel Show — Mr. Davis handles Congress — 
His Energy and Industry — Society and the Strangers — Joy over Vir- 
ginia's Secession. 

CHAPTER v.— A Southern River Boat Race 42-48 

An Alabama Steamer — General Van Dorn — What River Travel is — 
A Calliope and its Master — Banter for a Race — Excitement of all on 
Board — A Close Shave — Neck and Neck — How a Race is Won — A 
Unique Toast. 

CHAPTER VI. — Boat Life Afloat and Aground 49-0^" 

Time-killers on the River — Negro Boat-hands — Cotton Loading from 
Slides — Overboard ! — " Fighting the Tiger " — Hard Aground ! — Delay 
and Depression — Admiral Raphael Semmes — News of the Baltimore 
Riot — Speculation as to its Results. 



11 Table of Contents. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER VII.— Mobile, the Gulf City 54-5^ 

Echo from Maryland — Alabama's Preparation — Mobile's Crack Corps 
— John Forsyth on the Peace Commissioners — Mobile Society — Pleas- 
ure-lovers and Their Pleasures — A Victim of the Tiger — Two Moral 
Axioms. 

CHAPTER VIII.— New Orleans, the Crescent City 59-68 

Location and Commercial Impoitance — Old Methods of Business — 
Relations of Planter and Factor — A Typical Brokerage House — Secure 
Reliance on European Recognition and the Kingship of Cotton — Yel- 
low Jack ami his Treatment — French Town and American — Hotels of 
the Day — Home Society and "The Heathen " — Social Customs — Creole 
Women's Taste — Cuffee and Cant — Early Regiments and Crack Com- 
panies — Judges of Wine — A Champion Diner. 

CHAPTER IX.— A Change of Base 69-74 

The Pensacola Army — Review by President Davis — Orders for Vir- 
ginia — Breaking Camp on the Gulf — The Start of the Zouaves — Tliey 
Capture a Train and a City — Pursuit and Recapture — The Riot and 
its Lesson — Early Ideas of Discipline. 

CHAPTER X.— En Route for the Border 75-83 

Decision to Move the Capital — Lax Precautions — The New York 
" Tribune" Dispatch — Montgomery Murmurs — Troops en route, and 
their Feelings — The Government on Wheels — Kingsville Misnomer — 
Profanity and Diplomacy — Grimes' Brother-in-law — With the C. S. 
Mail-bags. 

CHAPTER XI.— On to Richmond 84-92 

A Typical Southron — Sentiment in the Ranks — Glimpse of the new 
Capital^The Inflowing Caravans — Hotels and Boarding-houses — City 
and Surroundings — A Southern Poet— A Warning in Statuary — Holly- 
wood Cemetery — The Tredegar Works — Their Importance in the War 
— 'T'other Consarn ! 

CHAPTER XII.— Settling to the Real Work 93-101 

Regulars of the States — Virginia Sentiment — Unanimity of Purpose 
— Lee and Johnston — Esprit de Corps — Centering on Virginia — Varied 
Types of Different States — The Marylanders at the South — Mixed 
Equipments and " Properties " — Doubtful Points — Norfolk to Manassas 
— Where the Battle Ground would be — Missouri's First Move. 

CHAPTER XIII.— The Leaders and the Led 102-110 

General Lee comes tc tlie Front — Mr. Davis' Labors and Responsi- 
bilities — His Personal Popularity — Social Feeling at the new Capital — 



Table of Cotitents. iii 

PAGE. 

" Pawnee Sunday " Panic — Richmond Society — An After-dinner Object 
Lesson — How Good Blood did not Lie — Western Virginia — Society's 
Pets go to the Front — "The Brave at Home." 

CHAPTER XIV.— The Baptism of Blood 111-121 

The First War Bulletin — How Richmond received It — Practical 
Result of Bethel — Earnest Work in Government Bureaux — Thunder 
from a Clear Sky — Shadows follow Rich Mountain — Carthago delenda! 
— Popular Cemparison of Fighting Qualities — The " On-to-Richmond ! " 
Clangor — The Southern Pulse — *' Beware of Johnston's Retreats ! " 
Bull Run — The Day before Manassas — Waiting ! 

CHAPTER XV.— After Manassas 122-128 

How Rumors came — Jubilation and Revulsion — Anxiety for News — 
The Decisive Charge — An Austrian View — The President's Return — 
His Speech to the People — The First Train of Wounded — Sorrow and 
Consolation — How Women Worked — Material and Moral Results of 
Manassas — Spoils and Overconfidence — Singular Errors in Public Mind 
— General Belief in Advance — The Siesta and its Dreams. 

CHAPTER XVI.— The Spawn of Lethargy 129-138 

Reaction of Sentiment — Conflicting Ideas about Inaction — Popular 
Wish for Aggressive War — Sentiment settles to Fact — Mr, Davis' 
Attitude to Johnston and Beauregard — After-battle Confusion — Strateg- 
ic Reasons — Inaction breeds grave Discontent — Effect on the Army — 
Sober Second Thought — Government Use of the Lull — Bombast and 
Sense — A Glance North — The Western Outlook — John B. Floyd. 

CHAPTER XVII.— From Court to Camp 139-146 

A Winter's Inaction and Effects — Comforts and Homesickness — 
Unseen Foes and Their Victory — Care and Cleanliness — Nostalgia — 
Camp Morality — Record of the " Cracks " — In a Maryland Mess — 
Mud and Memories — Has History a Parallel? — Old Cavaliers and New. 

CHAPTER XVIII.— Society at the Capital i47-r57 

Richmond Overflowing — Variety of Visitors — Gradual Growth of 
Gayety — " Danceable Teas" — Amateur Benefits — "Youth at the Helm" 
— A Society Woman's View — Social Theories and Practice — Virginian 
Hospitality — Quieter Sociability — The Presidential Household — Mr. 
and Mrs. Davis — Formal Levees — Social Ethics — Dissipation — Disap- 
pointing Solons. 

CHAPTER XIX.— Days of Depression 158-165 

Reverses on All Lines — ZoUicoffer's Death — Mr. Benjamin, Secre- 
tary of War — Transportation Dangers — The Tennessee River Forts — 



iv Table of Coiite?iis. 



PAGE> 



Forrest and Morgan — Gloom follows Nashville's Fall — Government 
Bfamed by People — The Permanent Government — Mr. Davis' Typical 
Inaugural — Its Effect and Its Sequence — Cabinet Changes. 

CHAPTER XX. — From Shiloh to New Orleans 166-175, 

Sunshine and Shadow — Clouds gather in the West — Island No. 10 — 
Shiloh — Illustrative Valor — Deep Depression — Was Johnston hounded 
to His Death P^Fall of New Orleans — Odd Situation of Her Captors — 
Butler in Command — His Place in Southern Opinion — Strategic Results 
— Popular Discontent — Effect on the Fighters — Butler and the Women 
— Louisiana Soldiers. ^ 

CHAPTER XXI. — The Conscription and Its Conseotuexces . . . 174-18S 
The " More Men ! " cry — Passage of the Act — State Troops Turned 
Over — Appointment of Generals — Longings for Home — Exemptions 
and "Details" — The Substitute Law — Mr. Davis' Wisdom Vindi- 
cated — Governor Joe Brown kicks — State Traits of the Conscripts — 
Kentucky's Attitude — Tennessee's " Buffaloes " — The " Union Feeling " 
Fallacy — Conscript Camps — Morals of the "New Ish " — Food and 
Money Scarcer — Constancy of the Soldiers— The Extension Law — 
Repeal of the Substitute Act — Home-Guards — "The Cradle and the 
Grave." 

CHAPTER XXII. — Waiting the Ordeal by Combat 189-197 

The North Prepares a New "On to Richmond." — Joe Johnston's 
Strategy — From Manassas to Richmond — Magruder's Lively Tactics — 
The Defenders Come — Scenes of the March Through — A Young Vet- 
eran — Public Feeling — Williamsburg's Echo — The Army of Specters — 
Ready! — Drewry's Bluff — The Geese Fly South — Stern Resolve! 

CHAPTER XXTII. — Around Richmond 198-206 

Seven Pines — War at the Very Gates — Harrowing Scenes — Woman's 
Heroism — Crowded Hospitals — A Lull — Jackson's Meteor Campaign — 
Ashby Dead! — The Week of Blood — Southern Estimate of McClel- 
lan — What "Might Have Been" — Richmond Under Ordeal — "The 
Battle Rainbow" — Sad Sequela; — Real Sisters of Mercy — Beautiful 
Self-sacrifice. 

CHAPTER XXIV. — Echoes of Seven Days, North and South . 207-214 
Confederates Hopeful, but Sv'ot Overconfident — The Cost to the 
North — McClellan Sacrificed — General Pope and His Methods — He 
"Finds" Jackson at Cedar Mountain — A Glance Trans-Allegheny — 
Well-Conceived Federal Programme — General Bragg's Unpopular- 
ity — To the Ohio and Back — Would-be Critics — Flashes illumine the 
Clouds — Kentucky Misrepresented. 



Table of Contents. v 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER XXV.— Thb War IN THE West 215-222 

A Gloomy Outlook — Lone Jack — "The Butcher, McNeil" — Corinth 
and Murfreesboro — Their Bloody Cost — The Cry Wrung from the Peo- 
ple — Mr. Davis stands Firm — Johnston relieves Bragg — The Emanci- 
pation Proclamation — Magruder's Galveston Amphiboid — The Atlantic 
Seaboard — Popular Estimate of the Status — Hope for the New Year. 

CHAPTER XXVI.— The Failure of Finance 223-229 

Was Cotton really King? — How it Might have been Made So — 
Government's Policy — Comparison with Northern Finance — Why the 
South believed in her Advantage — How the North buoyed up her 
Credit — Contractors and Bondholders — Feeling at the South on the 
Money Question — Supply and Demand for Paper — Distrust creeps In — 
Rapid Depreciation. 

CHAPTER XXVn.— Dollars, Cents and Less 230-240 

Results of Inflation — Comparative Cost of Living North and South 
— How Army and Officials were Paid — Suffering enhances Distrust — ■ 
Barter Currency — Speculation's Vultures — The Auction Craze — Hoard- 
ing Supplies — Gambling — Richmond Faro-banks — Men n>et There — 
Death of Confederate Credit — The President and Secretary held to 
Account — Nothing but Mismanagement, 

CHAPTER XXVIII. — Across the Potomac and Back 241-250 

Precedents of the First Maryland Campaign — Jackson strikes Pope — 
Second Manassas — Why was Victory not Pushed? — The People demand 
Aggressive Warfare — Over the River — Harper's Ferry falls — Elation at 
the South — Rosy Prophecies — Sharpsburg — The River Recrossed — 
Gloom in Richmond — Fredericksburg and its Effect on the People — Why 
on Pursuit? — Hooker replaces Burnside — Death of Stonewall Jackson. 

CHAPTER XXIX.— Over Again to Gettysburg 251-258 

Popular Grief for Jackson — Again to the River — Winchester and her 
Women — The People Rejoice at the Advance — Public Belief in its Re- 
sult — Washington to Fall ; the War to End — The Prelude to Disaster 
— Second Day at Gettysburg — Pickett's Wonderful Charge — Some one- 
has Blundered? How the Story came South — Revulsion and Discon- 
tent — Lee not Blamed — Strictures on Non-retaliation — The Marylanders. 

CHAPTER XXX.— The Confederacy Afloat 259-27r 

Who the Southern Sailors were — Regular and Provisional Navy-bills 
— Popular Estimate of Mr. Mallory — Iron-clads vs. Cruisers — The 
Parole of "Pirate Semmes" — What Iron-clads might have done — 
Treasury and Navy — The "Merrimac" — Virginia Fight in Hampton 
Roads — The White-flag Violation — Those woiulerful Wooden Shells — 
Other flashing Achievements — Comparison of the two Navies — Doul)tful 



vi Table of Contents. 

PAGH. 

Torpedo Results — Summing up the Hue-and-Cry — Nashville and New 
Orleans — The Tatnall-" Virginia" Court-martial — Who did More than 
They? 

CHAPTER XXXI. — The Chinese Wall Blockade, Abroad and at 

Home , 272-2S7 

Foundation Errors — Lost Opportunity — The Treaty of Paris View — 
First Southern Commissioners — Doubts — The Mason-Slidell Incident — 
Mr. Benjamin's Foreign Policy — DeLeon's Captured Despatches — Mur- 
murs Loud and Deep — England's Attitude — Other Great Powers — Mr. 
Davis' View — "If" — Interest of the Powers — The Optimist View — 
Production and Speculation — Blockade Companies — Sumptuary Laws 
— Growth of Evil Power — Charleston and Savannah — Running the 
Fleet at Wilmington — Demoralization and Disgust — The Mississippi 
Closed — Vicksburg — "Running the Bloc." on the Border — The Spy 
System — Female Agents. 

CHAPTER XXXIL— Press, Literature and Art 288-301 

Newspapers North and South — Ability Differently Used — Reasons 
Therefor — Criticism of Affairs; its Effect — Magazines and their Clien- 
tele — Prose Writers ante bdlum — Rebel War Rhymes — Origin and 
Characteristics — The Northern " National Hymn" — Famous Poets and 
Their Work — Dirge Poetry and Prison Songs — Father Ryan and the 
Catholic Church — "Furled Forever!" — Musical Taste — How Songs 
were Utilized — Military Bands — Painters and Paintings — No Southern 
Art — A Few Noted Pictures. 

CHAPTER XXXIII.— Wit and Humor of the War 302-315 

Strange Laughter — The Confederate "Mother Goose" — Travesty 
and Satire — The "Charles Lamb" of Richmond — Camp Wit — Novel 
Marriage — A "Skirmisher" — Prison Humor — Even in Vicksburg! — 
Sad Bill-of-Fare — Northern Misconception — Richmond Society Wit — 
The " Mosaic Club" and its Components — Tnnes Randolph's Forfeit — 
The Colonel's Breakfast Horror — Post-surrender Humor — Even the 
Emancipated. 

CHAPTER XXXIV.— The Beginning of the End 316-326 

Gradual Weakening of the South — The Wearing-out Process — Sequelce 
of Vicksburg and Gettysburg — Congress vs. President — Mr. Foote and 
his Following — Drain of Men and Material — Home Guards — The 
"Speculator Squad " — Dire Straits in Camp and Home — Carpet Blank- 
ets — Raids and their Results — Breaking down of Cavalry Mounts — 
Echoes of Morgan's Ohio Dash — His Bold Escape — Cumberland Gap 
— A Glance at Chickamauga — "The Might Have Been" Once More — 
Popular Discontent — General Grant Judged by his Compeers — Long- 
street at Knoxville — Missionary Ridge — President's Views and People's 



Table of Contents. vii 



PAGE. 



— Again the Virginia Lines — Skirmish Depletion — Desertions — " Kir- 
Ijy-Smithdom." 

CHAPTER XXXV. — The Upper and Nether Millstones .... 327-335 
"Crushing the Spine of Rebellion" — Grant's Quadruple Plan — The 
Western Giant — Why its Back Broke — Delenda est Atlanta! — Grant be- 
comes the Upper Millstone — Men and Means Unstinted — Dahlgren's 
Raid — The South's Feeling — The Three Union Corps — War in the 
Wilderness — Rumors North and South — Spottsylvania — Still to the 
Left! — Cold Harbor Again — The "Open Door" Closed — Glance at 
Grant's Campaign — Cost of Reaching McClellan's Base — Sledge-Ham- 
mer Strategy — Solemn Joy in Richmond. 

CHAPTER XXXVI.— "The Land of Darkness and the Shadow of 

Death" 336-346 

Comparison of Numbers — The Ratio of Loss — The Process of Attri- 
tion — Stuart's Last Fight — The River Approaches — Beauregard 
"bottles" Butler — Grant sits down Before Petersburg — "Swapping 
with Boot" — Feeling of the Southern People — The Lines in Georgia — 
Military Chess — Different Methods of Sherman and Grant — Southern 
View — Public Confidence in Johnston — Hood relieves Him — How Re- 
ceived by the People — The Army Divided — "The Back Door" Opened 
at Last! — Mr. Davis visits Hood's Army — The Truce and the Chances 
—On the Rack. 

CHAPTER XXXVII.— Dies Ir^.— Dies Illa! 347-359 

The Lull at Petersburg — Strain on Army and People — North and 
South Waiting — Fears for Richmond — After Atlanta — Peace Proposi- 
tions—Mr. Davis' Attitude — Mr. Stephens' Failure at Fortress Mon- 
roe — Hood's Fatal Move — Results of Franklin — Strange Gayeties in 
Richmond — From the Dance to the Grave — "Starvations" and Theat- 
ricals — Evacuation Rumors — Only Richmond Left — Joe Johnston Rein- 
stated — Near Desperation — Grant Strikes — The News in Church — 
Evacuation Scenes — The Mob and the Stores — Firing Warehouses — 
The Last Reb Leaves — Fearful Farewells — Dead! 

CHAPTER XXX VIII. — After the Death-Blow was Dealt . . .360-372 
The Form of Surrender — Federals march In — Richmond in Flames — 
Blue-Coats fight the Fire— Sad Scenes— Automatic Shelling — Disci- 
pline Wins— At the Provost-Marshal's — A City of the Dead — Starva- 
tion //«j Suspense — The Tin-Can Brigade — Drawing Rations — Rumors 
.Tnd Reality — The First Gray Jacket returns — General Lee re-enters 
Richmond — Woman, the Comforter — Lincoln's Assassination — Result- 
ing Rigors — Baits for Sociability — How Ladies acted — Lectures by Old 
Friends — The Emigration Mania — Fortunate Collapse of Agreement — 
The Negro's Status — To Work, or Starve — Woman's Aid — Dropping 
the Curtain. 



FOUR YEARS IN REBEL CAPITALS, 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FOREHEAD OF THE STORM. 



The cloud no bigger than a man's hand had risen. 

It became visible to all in Washington over the southern horizon. 
All around to East and West was but the dull, dingy line of the 
storm that was soon to burst in wild fury over that section, leaving 
only seared desolation in its wake. Already the timid and wary 
began to take in sail and think of a port; while the most reckless 
looked from the horizon to each other's faces, with restless and uneasy 
glances. 

In the days of i860, as everybody knows, the society of Washing- 
ton city was composed of two distinct circles, tangent at no one 
point. The larger, outer circle whirled around with crash and fury 
several months in each year ; then, spinning out its centrifugal force, 
flew into minute fragments and scattered to extreme ends of the land. 
The smaller one — the inner circle — revolved sedately in its accus- 
tomed grooves, moving no whit faster for the buzz of the monster 
that surrounded and half hid it for so long; and when that spun itself 
to pieces moved on as undisturbed as Werther's Charlotte. 

The outer circle drew with it all the outside population, all the 
"dwellers in tents," from the busiest lobbyman to the laziest looker- 
on. All the ''hotel people" — those caravans that yearly poured 
unceasing into the not too comfortable caravanserai down town — 
stretched eager hands toward this circle; for, to them, it meant 
Washington, Having clutched an insecure grasp upon its rim, away 
they went with a fizz and a spin, dizzy and delighted — devil take the 
hindmost! Therein did the thousand lobbyists, who yearly came to 
roll logs, pull wires and juggle through bills, find their congenial 
prey. 



12 Four Years in Redd Capitals. 

Who shall rise up and write the secret history of that wonderful 
committee and of the ways and means it used to prey impartially 
upon government and client? Who shall record the "deeds without 
a name," hatched out of eggs from the midnight terrapin; the strange 
secrets drawn out by the post-prandial corkscrew ? AVho shall justly 
calculate the influence the lobby and its workings had in hastening 
that inevitable, the war between the states ? 

Into this outer circle whirled that smaller element which came to 
the Capital to spend money — not to make it. Diamonds flash, point 
lace flounces flaunt ! Who will stop that mighty whirligig to inspect 
whether the champagne is real, or the turtle is prime ? 

Allans! lejeu est fait! 

Camp-followers and hangers-on of Congress, many of its members 
from the West, claim agents from Kansas, husbandless married 
women from California and subterranean politicians from everywhere 
herein found elements as congenial as profitable. All stirred into the 
great olla podrida and helped to " Make the hell broth boil and 
bubble." 

The inner circle was the real society of Washington. Half sub- 
mergejd for half of each year by accumulating streams of strangers, it 
ever rose the same — fresh and unstained by deposit from the baser 
flood. Therein, beyond doubt, one found the most cultured coteries, 
the courtliest polish and the simplest elegance that the drawing-rooms 
of this continent could boast. The bench and the bar of the highest 
court lent their loftiest intellects and keenest wits. Careful selections 
were there from Congress of those who held senates on their lips and 
kept together the machinery of an expanding nation; and those 
"rising men," soon to replace, or to struggle with them, across the 
narrow Potomac near by. To this society, too, the foreign legations 
furnished a strong element. Bred in courts, familiar with the theories 
of all the world, these men must prove valuable and agreeable addi- 
tion to any society into which they are thrown. 

It is rather the fashion just now to inveigh against foreigners in 
society, to lay at their door many of the peccadilloes that have crept 
into our city life; but the diplomats are, with rare exceptions, men of 
birth, education and of proved ability in their own homes. Their 
ethics may be less strict than those which obtain about Plymouth 
Rock, but experience with them will prove that, however loose their 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 13 

own code, they carefully conform to the custom of others ; that if 
they have any scars across their morals, they have also the tact and 
good taste to keep them decorously draped from sight. 

In the inner circle of Washington were those officers of the army 
and navy, selected for ability or service — or possibly "by grace of 
cousinship" — to hold posts near the government; and, with full allow- 
ance for favoritism, some of these were men of culture, travel and 
attainment — most of them were gentlemen. And the nucleus, as well 
as the amalgam of all these elements, was the resident families of old 
Washingtonians. These had lived there so long as to be able to win- 
now the chaff and throw the refuse off. 

There has ever been much talk about the corruption of Washing- 
ton, easy hints about Sodom, with a general sweep at the depravity of 
its social system. But it is plain these facile fault-finders knew no 
more of its inner circle — and for its resident society only is any city 
responsible — than they did of the court of the Grand Turk. Such 
critics had come to Washington, had made their "dicker," danced at 
the hotel hops, and been jostled on the Avenue. If they essayed 
an entrance into the charmed circle, they failed. 

Year after year, even the Titans of the lobby assailed the gates of 
that heaven refused them ; and year after year they fell back, baffled 
and grommelling, into the pit of that outer circle whence they came. 
Yet every year, especially in the autumn and spring, behind that 
Chinese wall was a round of entertainments less costly than the 
crushes of the critic circle, but stamped with quiet elegance aped in 
vain by the non-elect. And when the whirl whirled out at last, with 
the departing Congress; when the howling crowd had danced its mad 
carmagnole and its vulgar echoes had died into distance, then Wash- 
ington society was itself again. Then the sociality of intercourse — 
that peculiar charm which made it so unique — became once more free 
and unrestrained. 

Passing from the reek of a hotel ball, or the stewing soiree of a 
Cabinet secretary into the quiet salon of a West End home, the very 
atmosphere was different, and comparison came of itself with that old 
Qiiartier Saint Germain, which kept undefiled from the pitch that 
smirched its Paris, through all the hideous dramas of the bomiet rouge. 

The influence of political place in this country has long spawned a 
social degradation. Where the gift is in the hands of a fixed power. 



14 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

its seeking is lowering enough ; but when it is besought from the 
enHghtened voter himself, "the scurvy politician" becomes a reality 
painfully frequent. Soliciting the ballot over a glass of green corn 
juice in the back room of a country grocery, or flattering the cara 
sposa of the farmhouse, with squalling brat upon his knee, is scarcely 
calculated to make the best of men more of * * an ornament to society. " 
Constant contact with sharpers and constant effort to be sharper than 
they is equally as apt to blunt his sense of delicacy as it is to unfit one 
for higher responsibilities of official station. So it was not unnatural 
that that society of Washington, based wholly on politics, was not 
found wholly clean. But under the seething surface — first visible to 
the casual glance — was a substratum as pure as it was solid and 
unyielding. 

Habitues of twenty years remarked that, with all the giddy whirl 
of previous winters in the outer circle, none had approached in mad 
rapidity that of 1S60-61. The rush of aimless visiting, matinees and 
dinners, balls and suppers, followed each other without cessation- 
dress and diamonds, equipage and cards, all cost more than ever 
before. This might be the last of it, said an uneasy sense of the 
coming storm; and in the precedent sultriness, the thousands who 
had come to make money vied with the tens who came to spend it in 
mad distribution of the proceeds. Madame, who had made an im- 
mense investment of somebody's capital in diamonds and lace, must 
let the world see them. Mademoiselle must make a certain exhibit 
of shapely shoulders and of telling stride in the German; and time 
was shortening fast. And Knower, of the Third House, had put all 
the proceeds of engineering that last bill through, into gorgeous plate. 
It would never do to waste it, for Knower meant business; and this 
might be the end of the thing. 

So the stream rushed on, catching the weak and timid ones upon 
its brink and plunging them into the whirhng vortex. And still the 
rusty old wheels revolved, as creakily as ever, at the Capital. Blobb, 
of Oregon, made machine speeches to the sleepy House, but neither 
he, nor they, noted the darkening atmosphere without. Senator Jenks 
took his half-hourly "nip" with laudable punctuality, thereafter rising 
eloquent to call Mr. President's attention to that little bill ; and all 
the while that huge engine, the lobby, steadily pumped away in the 
political basement, sending streams of hot corruption into every artery 
•of the government. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 15 

Suddenly a sullen reverberation echoes over the Potomac from the 
South. The long-threatened deed is done at last. South Carolina 
has seceded, and the first link is rudely stricken from the chain. 

There is a little start; that is all. The Third House stays for a 
second its gold spoon; and, perhaps, a trifle of the turtle spills before 
reaching its mouth. Madame rearranges her parure and smoothes 
her ruffled lace; while Mademoiselle pouts a little, then studies her 
card for the next waltzer. Senator Jenks takes his "nip" just a trifle 
more regularly; and Blobb, of Oregon, draws a longer breath before 
his next period. As for the lobby-pump, its piston grows red-hot and 
its valves fly wide open, with the work it does ; while thicker and 
more foul are the streams it sends abroad. 

For awhile there is some little talk around Willard's about the 
" secesh;" and the old soldiers wear grave faces as they pass to and 
fro between the War Department and General Scott's headquarters. 
But to the outer circle, it is only a nine-day wonder; while the danc- 
ing and dining army men soon make light of the matter. 

But the stone the surface closes smoothly over at the center makes 
large ripples at the edges. Faces that were long before now begin 
to lengthen ; and thoughtful men wag solemn heads as they pass, or 
pause to take each other by the buttonhole. More frequent knots 
discuss the status in hotel lobbies and even in the passages of the 
departments; careful non-partisans keep their lips tightly closed, and 
hot talk, pro or con, begins to grow more popular. 

One day I find, per card, that the Patagonian Ambassador dines 
me at seven. As it is not a state dinner I go, to find it even more 
stupid. At dessert the reserve wears off and all soon get deep in the 
" Star of the West" episode. 

" Looks mighty bad now, sir. Something must be done, sir, and 
soon, too," says Diggs, a hard-working M. C. from the North-west. 
"But, as yet, I don't see — what, exactly!" 

"Will your government use force to supply Fort Sumter?" asks 
Count B. , of the Sardinian legation. 

" If so, it might surely drive out those states so doubtful now, that 
they may not go to extremes," suggested the Prussian charge ad interim. 

"Why, they'll be whipped back by the army and navy within 
ninety days from date," remarks a gentleman connected with pen- 
sion brokerage. 



1 6 Fcur Years in Rebel Capitals. 

"If part of the army and navy does not go to get whipped with 
them," growls an old major of the famed Aztec Club, And the scar 
across the nose, that he brought away from the Belen Gate, grows 
very uncomfortably purple. 

"By Jove! I weally believes he means it! Weally!" whispers 
very young Savile Rowe, of H. B. M. legation. "Let's get wid of 
these politics. Dwop in at Knower's ; soiwee, you know ;" and Savile 
tucks his arm under mine. 

Two blocks away we try to lose uncomfortable ideas in an atmos- 
phere of spermaceti, hot broadcloth, jockey club and terrapin. 

" Next quadwille, Miss Wose ?" 

"Oh, yes, Mr. Rowe; and — the third galop — let me see — the fifth 
waltz. And oh! isn't it nasty of those people in South Carolina! 
Why ^^;z'/ they behave themselves? Oh, dear! what a lovely color 
Karmeen Sorser has to-night! Aic revoirT^ and Miss Rose Ruche 
glides off, a deux temps^ on the arm of the Turkish charge. 

As I stroll through the rooms, there is much glaring light and there 
are many nude necks. I am jostled by polking damsels and button- 
holed by most approved bores. But, through the blare of the brass 
horns and over the steaming terrapin, the one subject rises again and 
again, refusing burial as persistently as Eugene Aram's old man. 

"Try a glass of this punch," Knower chirps cheerily. " Devilish 
good punch! Good glass, too. See the crest and the monogram 
blowed in. Put Kansas Coal Contriver's Company proceeds into that 
glass. But things are looking blue, sir, devilish blue ; and I don't see 
the way out at all. Fact is, I'm getting pretty down in the mouth!" 
And the lobbyist put a bumper of punch in the same position. 
"People may talk, sir, but my head's as long as the next, and I don't 
see the way out. Washington's dead, sir j dead as a hammer, if this 
secession goes on. Why, what'U become of our business if they move 
the Capital ? Kill us, sir; kill us! Lots of southern members leaving 
already" — and Knower's voice sunk to a whisper — "and would you 
believe it? I heard of nine resignations from the army to-day. Gad, 
sir ! had it from the best authority. That means business, I'm afraid." 
And little by little the conviction dawned on all classes that it did 
mean business — ugly, real business. What had been only mutterings 
a few weeks back grew into loud, defiant speech. Southern men, in 
and out of Congress, banded under their leading spirits, boldly and 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 17 

emphatically declared what they meant to do. Never had excitement 
around the Capitol run half so high. Even the Kansas-Nebraska 
furore had failed to pack the Senate galleries so full of men and wo- 
men, struggling for seats and sitting sometimes through the night. 
One after another the southern leaders made their valedictories — 
some calm and dignified, some hot and vindictive — and left the seats 
they had filled for years. One after another, known and honored 
names were stricken from the army and navy lists, by resignation. 
One after another, states met in convention and, by "ordinance of 
secession," declared themselves independent of the Federal Govern- 
ment. It was as though the train had been prepared and the action 
of South Carolina was but the lighting of the fuse. Within six weeks 
from Mr. Buchanan's New Year reception, six states had deliber- 
ately gone out of the Union. 

When it was too late, the sleepy administration opened its eyes. 
Not liking the looks of things, it shut them again. When it was too 
late, there were windy declarations and some feeble temporizing; but 
all thinking men felt that the crisis had come and nothing could 
avert it. The earthquake that had rumbled so long in premonitory 
throes suddenly yawned in an ugly chasm, that swallowed up the 
petty differences of each side. One throb and the little lines of party 
were roughly obliterated; while across the gulf that gaped between 
them, men glared at each other with but one meaning in their eyes. 

That solemn mummery, the ** Peace Congress," might temporarily 
have turned the tide it was wholly powerless to dam ; but the arch 
seceder, Massachusetts, manipulated even that slight chance of com- 
promise. The weaker elements in convention were no match for the 
peaceful Puritan whom war might profit, but could not injure. Peace 
was pelted from under her olive with splinters of Plymouth Rock, 
and Massachusetts members poured upon the troubled waters oil — of 
vitriol ! 

When the ** Peace Commissioners " from the southern Congress at 
Montgomery came to Washington, all felt their presence only a mock- 
ery. It was too late ! they came only to demand what the govern- 
ment could not then concede, and every line they wrote was waste 
of ink, every word they spoke waste of breath. Southern congress- 
men were leaving by every train. Families of years residence were 
pulling down their household gods and starting on a pilgrimage to 
2 



1 8 Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

set them up — where they knew not, save it must be in the South. 
Old friends looked doubtfully at each other, and wild rumors were 
rife of incursions over the Potomic by wild-haired riders from Vir- 
ginia. Even the fungi of the departmental desks, seeming suddenly 
imbued with life, rose and threw away their quills — and with them the 
very bread for their families — to go South. It was the modern hegira ! 

A dull, vague unrest brooded over Washington, as though the city 
had been shadowed with a vast pall, or threatened with a plague. 
Then when it was again too late, General Scott — "the general," as 
the hero of Lundy's Lane and Mexico was universally known — virtu- 
ally went into the Cabinet, practically filling the chair that Jefferson 
Davis had vacated. Men felt that they must range themselves on 
one side, or the other, for the South had spoken and meant what she 
said. There might be war; there must be separation! 

I was lounging slowly past the rampant bronze Jackson in Lafay- 
ette Square when Styles Staple joined me. 

"When do you start ? " was his salutation. 

"When do I start?" Staple's question was a sudden one. 

"Yes, for the South? You're going, of course; and the governor 
writes me to be off at once. Better go together. Eh ? Night boat, 
4th of March." 

Now the governor mentioned was not presiding executive of a 
southern state, but was Staple pen, of the heavy cotton firm of Sta- 
ple, Long & Middling, New Orleans. Staple fils had been for years 
a great social card in Washington, The clubs, the legations, the ave- 
nues and the german knew him equally well; and though he talked 
about "the house," his only visible transaction with it was to make 
the name familiar to bill-brokers by frequent drafts. So I answered 
the question by another : 

"What are you going to do when you get there?" 

"Stop at Montgomery, see the Congress, draw on 'the house,* 
and then t' Orleans," he answered cheerfully. "Come with me. 
Lots to see ; and, no doubt, about plenty to do. If this sky holds, 
all men will be wanted. As you're going, the sooner the better. 
What do you say ? Evening boat, March 4th ? Is it a go ?" 

It gave only two days for preparation to leave what had come 
nearer being home than any other place in a nomadic life. But he 
was right. I was going, and we settled the matter, and separated to 
wind up our affairs and take conge. 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 19 

The night before President Lincohi's inauguration was a restless 
and trying one to every man in Washington. Nervous men heard 
signal for bloody outbreak in every unfamiliar sound. Thoughtful 
ones peered beyond the mist and saw the boiling of the mad breakers, 
where eight millions of incensed and uncontrolled population hurled 
themselves against the granite foundation of the established govern- 
ment. Selfish heads tossed upon sleepless pillows, haunted by the 
thought that the dawn would break upon a great change, boding ruin 
to their prospects, monetary or political. Even the butterflies felt 
that there was a something impending; incomprehensible, but un- 
comfortably suggestive of work instead of pleasure. So Washington 
rose red-eyed and unrefreshed on the 4th of March, 1861. 

Elaborate preparations had been made to have the day's ceremo- 
nial brilliant and imposing beyond precedent. Visiting militia and 
civil organizations from every quarter — North, East and West — had 
been collecting for days, and meeting reception more labored than 
spontaneous. The best bands of the country had "flocked to the Cap- 
ital, to drown bad blood in the blare of brass; and all available cavalry 
and artillery of the regular army had been hastily rendezvoused, for 
the double purpose of spectacle and security. Still the public mind 
was feverish and unquiet; and the post commandant was like the 
public mind. 

Rumors were again rife of raids over the Potomac, with Henry A, 
Wise or Ben McCuUough at their head; nightmares of plots to rob 
the Treasury and raze the White House sat heavy on the timid; while 
extremists manufactured long-haired men, with air guns, secreted here 
and there and sworn to shoot Mr. Lincoln, while reading his inaug- 
ural. 

All night long, orderlies were dashing to and fro at breakneck 
speed ; and guard details were marching to all points of possible 
danger. Day dawn saw a light battery drawn up on G street facing 
the Treasury, guns unlimbered and ready for action; while infantry 
held both approaches to the Long Bridge across the Potomac. Other 
bodies of regulars were scattered at points most available for rapid 
concentration ; squadrons of cavalry were stationed at the crossings 
of several avenues; and all possible precautions were had to quell 
summarily any symptoms of riot. 

These preparations resembling more the capital of Mexico than 



20 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

tliat of these United States, were augury of the peace of the admin- 
istration thus ushered in ! Happily, they were needless. All who re- 
member that inauguration will recall the dull, dead quiet with which 
the day passed off. The very studiousness of precaution took away 
from the enjoyment of the spectacle even; and a cloud was thrown 
over the whole event by the certainty of trouble ahead. The streets 
were anxious and all gayety showed effort, while many lowering faces 
peeped at the procession from windows and housetops. 

It was over at last. The new man had begun with the new era ; 
and Staple and I had finished our chasse at "Wormley's dinner table, 
when that worthy's pleasant, yellow face peered in at the door. 

As we jumped into the carriage awaiting us and Wormley banged 
the door, a knot of loungers ran up to say good-bye. They were all 
men-about-town ; and if not very dear to each other, it was still a 
wrench to break up associations with those whose faces had been 
familiar to every dinner and drive and reception for years. We had 
never met but in amity and amid the gayest scenes ; now we were 
plunging into a pathless future. Who could tell but a turn might 
bring us face to face, where hands would cross with deadly purpose ; 
while the hiss of the j\Iinie-ball sang accompaniment in place of the 
last galop that Louis Weber had composed. 

" Better stay where you are, boys! " — " You're making a bad thing 
of it! " — " Don't leave us Styles, old fellow ! " — "You'll starve down 
South, sure! " — were a few of the hopeful adieux showered at us. 

"Thank you all, just the same, but I think we won't stay," Staple 
responded. "What would 'the house' do? God bless you, boys! 
Good-bye, Jim ! " 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER II. 

"the cradle of the confederacy." 

Evening had fallen as evening can fall only in early Washington 
spring. As we plunged into the low, close cabin of the Acquia 
Creek steamer of that day, there was a weak light, but a strong smell 
of kerosene and whisky. Wet, steamy men' huddled around the hot 
stove, talking blatant politics in terms as strong as their liquor. So, 
leaving the reek below, we faced the storm on deck, vainly striving to 
fix the familiar city lights as they faded through the mist and rain ; 
more vainly still peering into the misty future, through driving fancies 
chasing each other in the brain. 

The journey south in those days was not a delight. Its components 
were discomfort, dust and doubt. As we rattled through at gray of 
dawn, Richmond was fast asleep, blissfully ignorant of that May 
morning when she would wake to find herself famous, with the eyes 
of all the civilized world painfully strained toward her. But from 
Petersburg to Wilmington the country side was wide awake and eager 
for news. Anxious knots were at every station and water tank, and 
not overclean hands were thrust into the windows, with the cry: 
* 'Airy paper ? " Sometimes yellow faces, framed with long, lame hair, 
peered in at the doors ; while occasional voices indescribably twanged : 
" You'uns got any news from thar 'nauggeration ? " 

Staple's ready, while not very accurate, replies were hungrily 
swallowed ; proffered papers of any date were clutched and borne as 
prizes to the learned man of each group, to be spelled out to the 
delectation of open-mouthed listeners. For the whole country had 
turned out, with its hands in its breeches pockets, and so far it seemed 
content to gape and lounge about the stations. The men, to all ap- 
pearance, were ready and eager ; but at that time no idea of such a 
thing as preparation had entered their minds. 

It is difficult, at best, to overcome the vis inertia of the lower-class 
dweller along the South Atlantic seaboard 3 but when he is first 



2 2 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

knocked in the head with so knotty a club as secession, and then is 

told to be up and doing, he probably does nothing. Their leaders 

had not been among them yet, and the " Goobers" were entirely at 
sea. They knew that something had gone wrong, that something was 
expected of them ; but how, where or what, their conception was of 
the vaguest. The average intelligence of the masses thereabout is not 
high; the change noticeable before crossing the "Virginia line becom- 
ing more and more marked as one travels straight south. Whether 
the monotonous stretches of pine barren depress mentally, or frequent 
recurring "ager" prostrates physically, who shall say? But to the 
casual glance along that railroad line, was not presented an unvarying 
picture of bright, or intellectual, faces. 

In Wilmington — not then the busy mart and ''port of the Con- 
federacy," she later grew to be — almost equal apathy prevailed. 
There was more general sense of a crisis upon them ; but the escape 
valve for extra steam, generated therefrom, seemed to be in talk only. 
There were loud-mouthed groups about the hotel, sundry irate and 
some drunken politicians at the ferry. But signs of real action were 
nowhere seen; and modes of organization seemed to have interested 
no man one met. The ' ' Old North State " had stood ready to dissolve 
her connection with the Union for some five weeks; but to the looker- 
on, she seemed no more ready for the struggle to follow her "ordi- 
nance of secession," than if that step had not been considered. 

But it must be remembered that this was the very beginning, when 
a whole people were staggered by reaction of their own blow ; and all 
seemed to stand irresolute on the threshold of a vast change. And 
when the tug really came, the state responded so bravely and so 
readily that none of her sisters might doubt the mettle she was made 
of. Her record is written from Bethel to Appomattox, in letters so 
bright that time can not dim, or conquest tarnish, them. 

Through South Carolina and Georgia, men seemed more awake to 
the greatness of the change and to the imminence of its results. 
Inland Georgia, especially, showed keener and shrewder. Questions 
were more to the point; and many a quick retort was popped through 
the car windows at Staple's wonderful inventions. A strongly as- 
severated wish to do something, and that at the earliest moment, was 
generally clinched by a bouncing oath ; but where, or how, that 
something was to be done was never even hinted. Briefly, Georgia 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 23 

seemed more anxious for preparation than her neighbors ; withal she 
was equally far from preparation. It were manifestly unfair to judge 
the status of a whole people by glimpses from a railway carriage. 
But from that point of view, the earliest hours of revolution — those 
hours which, properly utilized, are most fruitful of result — were 
woefully and weakly wasted by " the leaders." 

The people had risen en masse. The flame had spread among them 
like lava to their lowest depths. Told that their section needed them, 
they had responded like the Douglas, ' ' Ready, aye, ready ! " Beyond 
this they were ^told nothing; and during those most precious weeks 
they waited, while demagoguery flourished and action slept. The 
entire cotton growing region was in active fermentation; but, until 
the surface bubbles ceased, no practical deposit could be looked for. 

" Devilish strong hands and pretty broad backs these, but I've yet 
to see the first head among them! I suppose we'll find them at 
Montgomery ! " 

After emitting which Orphic utterance at West Point, Styles Staple 
emptied the partnership's pocket-flask, and then slept peacefully until 
we reached the "Cradle of the Confederacy." 

Montgomery, like Rome, sits on seven hills. The city is pictur- 
esque in perch upon bold, high bluffs, which, on the city side, cut 
sheer down to the Alabama river ; here, seemingly scarce more than a 
biscuit-toss across. From the opposite bank spread great flat stretches 
of marsh and meadow land, while on the other side, behind the town, 
the formation swells and undulates with gentle rise. As in most 
southern inland towns, its one great artery. Main street, runs from 
the river bluffs to the Capitol, perched on a high hill a full mile away. 
This street, wide and sandy, was in the cradle days badly paved, but 
rather closely built up. Nor was the Capitol a peculiarly stately pile, 
either in size or architectural effect. Still it dominated the lesser 
structures, as it stared down the street with quite a Roman rigor. 
The staff upon its dome bore the flag of the new nation, run up there 
shortly after the Congress met by the hands of a noted daughter of 
Virginia. Miss Letitia Tyler was not only a representative of proud 
Old Dominion blood, but was also granddaughter of the ex-President 
of the United States, whose eldest son, Robert, lived in the new Cap- 
ital. All Montgomery had flocked to Capitol Hill in holiday attire; 
bells rang and cannon boomed, and the throng — including all mem- 



24 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

bers of the government — stood bareheaded as the fair Virginian threw 
that flag to the breeze. Then a poet-priest — who later added the 
sword to the quill — spoke a solemn benediction on the people, their 
flag and their cause; and a shout went up from every throat that 
told they meant to honor and strive for it; if need be, to die for it. 
What was the meaning of the pact, then and there made, had been 
told by a hundred battle-fields, from Texas to Gettysburg, from Santa 
Rosa to Belmont, ere the star of the South set forever, and her rem- 
nant of warriors sadly draped that "conquered banner." 

On the whole, the efi'ect of Montgomery upon the newly arrived 
was rather pleasing, with a something rather provincial, quite in 
keeping with its location inland. Streets, various in length, uncertain 
in direction and impractical as to pavement, ran into Main street at 
many points ; and most of them were closely built with pretty houses, 
all of them surrounded by gardens and many by handsome grounds. 
Equidistant from the end of Main street and from each other, stood, 
in these cradle days, the two hotels of which the Capital could boast. 
Montgomery Hall, of bitter memory — like the much-sung " Raven of 
Zurich," for uncleanliness of nest and length of bill — had been the 
resort of country merchants, horse and cattle-men; but now the 
Solon of the hour dwelt therein, with the possible hero of many a 
field. The Exchange — of rather more pretentions and vastly more 
comfort — Avas at that time in the hands of a northern firm, who 
"could keep a hotel." The latter was political headquarters — the 
President, the Cabinet and a swarm of the possible great residing 
there. 

Montgomery was Washington over again; only on a smaller scale, 
and with the avidity and agility in pursuit of the spoils somewhat 
enhanced by the freshness of scent. 

"The President is at this house?" I queried of the ex-member of 
Congress next me at dinner. " But he does not appear, I suppose ?" 

" Oh, yes; he's waiting here till his house is made ready. But he 
doesn't have a private table ; takes his meals like an everyday mortal, 
at the ladies' ordinary." 

He had scarcely spoken when Mr. Davis entered by a side door 
and took his seat, with only an occasional stare of earnest, but not 
disrespectful, curiosity from the more recent arrivals. 

Even in the few weeks since I had seen him, there was a great 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 25, 

change. He looked worn and thinner ; and the set expression of 
the somewhat stern features gave a grim hardness not natural to their 
lines. With scarcely a glance around, he returned the general salu- 
tations, sat down absently and was soon absorbed in conversation 
with General Cooper, who had recently resigned the adjutant-general- 
ship of the United States army and accepted a similar post and a 
brigadier's commission from Mr. Davis, 

An after-dinner interview with the President of the Confederacy, 
to present the "very important " documents from one of the martyrs, 
pining for hanging at Washington, proved them only a prolix report 
of the inauguration, Mr. Davis soon threw them aside to hear the 
verbal account from us. 

At this time the southern chief was fifty-two years old — tall, erect 
and spare by natural habit, but worn thin to almost emaciation by 
mental and physical toil. Almost constant sickness and unremitting 
excitement of the last few months had left their imprint on face as 
well as figure. The features had sharpened and the lines had deep- 
ened and hardened; the thin lips had a firmer compression and the 
lower jaw — always firm and prominent — was closer pressed to its fel- 
low. Mr. Davis had lost the sight of one eye many months previous, 
though that member scarcely showed its imperfection 5 but in the 
other burned a deep, steady glow, showing the presence with him of 
thought that never slept. And in conversation he had the habit of 
listening with eyes shaded by the lids, then suddenly shooting forth 
at the speaker a gleam from the stone-gray pupil which seemed to 
penetrate his innermost mind. 

Little ceremony, or form, hedged the incubating government ; and 
perfect simplicity marked every detail about Mr. Davis. His office, 
for the moment, was one of the parlors of the hotel. Members of 
the Cabinet and high officials came in and out without ceremony, to 
ask questions and receive very brief replies ; or for whispered con- 
sultation with the President's private secretary, whose desk was in 
the same room. Casual visitors were simply announced by an usher, 
and were received whenever business did not prevent. Mr. Davis* 
manner was unvarying in its quiet and courtesy, drawing out all that 
one had to tell, and indicating by brief answer, or criticism, that he 
had extracted the pith from it. At that moment he was the very idol 
of the people; the grand embodiment to them of their grand cause;, 



2 6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

and they gave him their hands unquestioning, to applaud any move 
soever he might make. And equally unthinking as this popular 
manifestation of early hero-Avorship, was the clamor that later floated 
into Richmond on every wind, blaming the government — and espe- 
cially its head — for every untoward detail of the facile descent to 
destruction. 

A better acquaintance with the Confederate Capital impressed one 
still more with its likeness to Washington toward the end of the ses- 
sion ; but many features of that likeness were salient ones, which had 
marred and debased the older city. The government just organizing, 
endless places of profit, of trust, or of honor, were to be filled : and 
for each and every one of them was a rush of jostling and almost 
rabid claimants. The skeleton of the regular army had just been 
articulated by Congress, but the bare bones would soon have swelled 
to more than Falstaffian proportions, had one in every twenty of the 
ardent aspirants been applied as matter and muscle. The first "ga- 
zette" was watched for with straining eyes, and naturally would 
follow aching hearts ; for disappointment here first sowed the drag- 
on's teeth that were to spring into armed opponents of the unappre- 
ciative power. 

The whole country was new. Everything was to be done — to be 
made; and who was so capable for both, in their own conceit, as that 
swarm of worn-out lobbymen and contractors who, having thoroughly 
exploited "the old concern," now gathered to gorge upon the new. 
And by the hundred flocked hither those unclean birds, blinking 
bleared eyes at any chance bit, whetting foul bills to peck at carrion 
from the departmental sewer. Busy and active at all hours, the 
lobby of the Exchange, when the crowd and the noise rose to the 
flood at night, smacked no little of pandemonium. Every knot of 
men had its grievance ; every flag in tlie pavement was a rostrum. 
Slowness of organization, the weakness of Congress, secession of the 
border states, personnel of the Cabinet and especially the latest army 
appointments — these and kindred subjects were canvassed with heat 
equaled only by ignorance. Men from every section of the South 
-defended their own people in highest of keys and no little temper ; 
startling measures for public safety were off"ered and state secrets 
openlv discussed in this curbstone congress ; while a rank growth of 
newspaper correspondents, with "the very latest," swelled the hum 



Four )'cars in Rebel Capitals. 27 

into a veritable Babel. And the most incomprehensible of all was 
the diametric opposition of men from the same neighborhood, in 
their views of the same subject. Often it would be a vital one, of 
doctrine, or of policy ; and yet these neighbors would antagonize 
more bitterly than would men from opposite parts of the confedera- 
tion. 

Two ideas, however, seemed to pervade the entire South at this 
time which, though arrived at by most differing courses of reasoning, 
were discussed with complacent unanimity. One was that keystone 
dogma of secession, "Cotton is king;" the second, the belief that 
the war, should there be any, could not last over three months. The 
causes that led to the first belief were too numerous, if not too 
generally understood also, to be discussed here afresh ; and upon 
them, men of all sections and of all creeds based firmest faith that, so 
soon as Europe understood that the separation was permanent and a 
regular government had been organized, the power of cotton alone 
would dictate immediate recognition. The man who ventured dis- 
sent from this idea, back it by what reason he might, was voted no 
better than an idiot ; if, indeed, his rank disloyalty was not broadly 
hinted at. 

But the second proposition was harder still to comprehend. 
There had already been a tacit declaration of war, and overt acts 
were of frequent commission. As the states seceded, they seized 
the arsenals, with arms and munitions; the shipping, mints and all 
United States property, only permitting the officers to go on their 
parole. 

The North was already straining preparation to resent these 
insults offered to the power and to the flag of the Union. The 
people were of one race, embittered by long-existent rivalries and 
jealousies as strangers can never be embittered ; and the balance of 
numbers, of capital and of machinery were on the other side. 
These causes, as they were without fresh incentives that needs must 
follow war, seemed sufficient to convince reasoning men that if the 
storm burst, it would be as enduring as it was terrific. I could 
realize that to men saturated with pride of section, who knew little of 
facts and feelings beyond tlieir boundaries, the idea of peaceful 
separation, or of a short war, could be possible. But that the citizens of 
the world now congregated at Montgomery, who had sucked in her 



2S Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

wisdom as mother's milk, should talk thus, puzzled those who paused 
to query if they really meant what they said. 

Up to this time Montgomery had been scarcely more than a great 
inland village ; dividing her local importance between being the capi- 
tal of Alabama, the tei minus of her principal railroad, and the prac- 
tical head of navigation for her greatest river. The society had 
been composed of some planters, cotton men, a few capitahsts, some 
noted professionals and a large class connected with railroad and 
steamboat interests. There had always been considerable culture, 
more hospitality and still more ambition, social and civic ; but there 
was still much lacking of what the world expects of a city. Now, 
however, a future loomed up before the town, which had never before 
crossed the dreams of its oldest inhabitant. Her choice as the "cradle 
of the Confederacy," the sudden access of population therefroni, the 
probable erection of furnaces, factories and storehouses, with conse- 
quent disbursement of millions — all these gave the humdrum town a 
new value and importance, even to its humblest citizen. Already 
small merchants saw their ledgers grow in size, to the tune of added 
cash to fall jingling into enlarged tills. In fact, the choice of the 
Capital had turned a society, provincially content to run in accus- 
tomed grooves, quite topsy-turvy ; and, perhaps for want of some 
other escape-valve under the new pressure, the townspeople grum- 
bled consumedly. 

Tiring of experimental camping-out in a hotel, a few gentlemen 
hired a house and established a " mess." They were all notables — 
General Cooper, General IMeyers, Dr. DeLeon, Colonel Deas and 
others, the three first being adjutant-general, quartermaster-general 
and surgeon-general of the new army. A chief of department, or 
two and this writer, completed the occupants of " the Ranche," as it 
was early christened by " the colonel ; " and its piazza soon became 
the favorite lounging-place in the evening of the better and brighter 
elements of the floating population. There was sure to be found the 
newest arrival, if he were worth knowing; the latest papers and 
news *'from across; " and, as the blue smoke of the Havanas floated 
lazily out on the soft summer night, many a jovial laugh followed it 
and a not infrequent prediction of scenes to come almost prophetic. 
And of the lips that made these most are now silent forever — stilled 
in the reddest glow of battle, with the war-cry hot upon them. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 29 

So far the news that came in from all quarters continued cheer- 
ing. A vague sense of doubt and suspense would creep in when 
one stopped to think, but nothing terrible, or shocking, had yet hap- 
pened anywhere. Though the nation was going down to battle, its 
banners were flaunting gaily and its bands were playing anything 
but dirges. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER III. 



CONGRESS AND CABINET. 



The proposition that, shown who writes the ballads of a country, 
one may tell who makes its laws, is far from reversible in many 
instances ; and assuredly the lawmakers of the Confederacy looked 
little like poets. 

When the councils of a country are assembled for work, it is but 
natural to look for a body of grave and reverend — if not most 
potent — seigniors. And especially, when a new government is 
forming from selected fragments of the old, might one expect a pure 
and simple structure, free from those faults and weaknesses which 
sowed the seeds of disintegration in the elder fabric. 

It was too much the fashion to believe that the Confederacy — 
having sprung full-grown from foam of the angry sea of politics — 
was full-armed as well. A revolution, unprecedented in the world's 
history, had already been achieved. A strongly cemented and firmly 
seated government had been disrupted ; and a new one, built from 
the dissevered fragments, had been erected almost under the shadow 
of its Capitol. And no drop of blood had been spilled ! Six mill- 
ions of people had uprisen and, by a simple declaration of will, had 
in a few short weeks undone the work of near a century. Without 
arms in their hands ; without a keel in their waters ; without a dollar 
in their treasury, they arrayed themselves against the mother govern- 
ment with the serious purpose of not only asserting, but maintaining, 
their independence of it. 

So far, all had been accomplished without violence. But, what- 
ever the simpler masses might expect, the initiated politician could 
scarce have believed that the older government would meekly sub- 
mit to " Let the erring sisters go in peace." Hence, one might 
justly have looked to see the executive council of the new nation — to 
whom had been intrusted its safety and its hopes — with every thought 
bent, every nerve strained to the one vital point — preparation ! One 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 31 

could only have expected measures simple as energetic ; laws clear^ 
concise and comprehensive \ care only for the arming, organizing and 
maintenance of the people. 

Blessed are they who expect nothing! One glance at the " Con- 
gress of the Confederate States of America," as it sat in the Capitol 
at Montgomery, told the whole story of its organization and of its 
future usefulness. 

The states went out of the union, separately and at different 
periods, by the action of conventions. These were naturally com- 
posed of men who had long been prominently before the people,, 
urging the measures of secession. As a matter of course, the old 
political workers of each section, by fair means and foul, were en- 
abled to secure election to these conventions; and, once there, they 
so fevered and worked upon the public mind, amid rapidly succeed- 
ing events, that its after-thought could neither be reasonable nor de- 
liberate. The act of secession once consummated, the state con- 
nected itself with the Confederacy and representatives had to be sent 
to Montgomery. Small wonder that the men most prominent in the 
secession conventions should secure their own election, as little regard 
to fitness as ability being had by the excited electors. 

The House of Representatives at Montgomery looked like the Wash- 
ington Congress, viewed through a reversed opera-glass. The same 
want of dignity and serious work ; the same position of ease, with feet 
on desk and hat on head ; the same buzzing talk on indifferent sub- 
jects; often the very same men in the lobbies — taking dry smokes 
from unlit cigars ; all these elements were there in duplicate, if some- 
what smaller and more concentrated. No point in Montgomery was 
remote enough — no assemblage dignified enough — to escape the 
swoop of the lobby vulture. His beak was as sharp and his unclean 
talons as strong as those of the traditional bird, which had blinked 
and battened so long on the eaves of the Washington edifice. When 
"the old concern" had been dismembered, limbs had been dragged 
whole to aid in the construction of the new giant ; and scenting these 
from afar, he hastened hither fierce for his fresh banquet. 

Glancing down from the gallery of the House, many were the 
familiar faces peering over the desks ; and, even where one did not 
know the individual, it was easy to recognize the politician by trade 
among the rosy and uncomfortable novices. It was constant food 



32 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

for wonderment to thoughtful men, that the South had, in most cases, 
chosen party hacks to legislate for and to lead her in this great crisis, 
rather than transfused younger blood and steadier nerves into her 
councils ; rather than grafted new minds upon the as yet healthy body. 
The revolution was popularly accepted as the result of corruptions 
and aggressions which these very men had been utterly helpless to 
correct, or to prevent; even had they not been able actors in them. 
Yet, worn-out politicians — who had years before been "promoted 
from servants to sovereigns and had taken back seats" — floated high 
upon the present surge. Men hot from Washington, reeking with 
the wiles of the old House and with their unblushing buncombe fresh 
tipon them, took the lead in every movement; and the rank old 
Washington leaven threatened to permeate every pore of the new 
government. 

It is small wonder that the measures of such a congress, when not 
vacillating, were weak. If the time demanded anything, that de- 
mand was the promptest organization of an army, with an immediate 
basis of foreign credit, to arm, equip and clothe it. Next to this 
was the urgent need for a simple and readily managed machinery in 
the different departments of the government. 

Neither of these desiderata could be secured by their few earnest 
and capable advocates, who thrust them forward over and over again, 
only to be pushed aside by the sensation element with which the 
popular will of the new nation — or the want of it — had diluted her 
councils. There were windy dissertations on the color of the flag, or 
on the establishment of a patent office; and members made long 
speeches, bearing on no special point, but that most special one of 
their own re-election. There were bitter denunciations of " the old 
wreck;" violent diatribes on the "gridiron" flag; with many an 
eloquent and manly declaration of the feelings and the attitude of the 
South. But these were not the bitter need. Declarations sufficient 
had already been made ; and the masses — having made them, and 
being ready and willing to maintain them — stood with their hands in 
their pockets, open-mouthed, eager, but inactive. They were wait- 
ing for some organization, for some systematized preparation for the 
struggle even they felt to be surely coming. Not one in three of the 
congressmen dared look the real issue directly in the face ; and these 
were powerless to accomplish anything practical. But their con- 



Foitr Years in Rebel Capitals. 33. 

stant pressure finally forced from the reluctant legislature a few first 
steps toward reduction of the chaos. 

The Government was to consist, after the President, of a vice- 
President and a secretary for each of the departments of State, War, 
Navy, Treasury, Post-Office and Justice ; the latter being a combina- 
tion of the responsibilities of the Interior Department and the Attor- 
ney-General's office. 

Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, had been elevated to the 
vice-Presidency, as reconciling the oppositions of " original secession" 
and "anti secession." He had long been a prominent politician ; 
was thoroughly acquainted with all the points of public life ; and was, 
at this time, quite popular with people of all sections, being generally 
regarded as a man of exceptional capacity and great independence. 

The portfolio of State was in the hands of another Georgian, Rob- 
ert Toombs. In the present posture of affairs, little could be ex- 
pected from it, as until the nations of Europe should recognize the 
South, she could have no foreign policy. The honorable secretary 
himself seemed fully to realize how little, onerous was his position. 
One of the ten thousand applicants for any and every position ap- 
proached him for a place in his department and exhibited his letters 
of recommendation. 

** Perfectly useless, sir!" responded Mr, Toombs with a thunder- 
ous oath. Let us whisper that the honorable secretary was a pro- 
found swearer. 

**But, sir," persisted the place hunter, "if you will only look at 
this letter from Mr. , I think you can find something for me." 

"Can you get in here, sir?" roared the secretary fiercely, taking 
off his hat and pointing into it — with a volley of sonorous oaths — 
"That's the Department of State, sir! " 

The Post-Office and Department of Justice were, as yet, about 
as useful as the State Department ; but to the War Office, every eye 
was turned, and the popular verdict seemed to be that the choice 
there was not the right man in the right place. Mr. Leroy Pope 
Walker, to whom its administration was intrusted, was scarcely 
known beyond the borders of his own state; but those who did 
know him prophesied that he would early stagger under the heavy 
responsibility that would necessarily fall upon him in event of war.. 
Many averred that he was only a man of straw to whom Mr. Davis^ 
3 



34 Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

had offered the portfoHo, simply that he might exercise his own well- 
known love for military affairs and be himself the de facto Secretary 
of War. 

The selection of Mr. Mallory, of Florida, for the Navy Depart- 
ment, was more popular and was, as yet, generally considered a 
good one. His long experience as chairman of the committee on 
naval affairs, in the United States Senate, and his reputation for 
clearness of reasoning and firmness of purpose, made him acceptable 
to the majority of politicians and people. Of Mr. Reagan the peo- 
ple knew little; but their fate was not in his hands, and just now 
they were content to wait for their letters. 

The Treasury Department was justly supposed to be the key to 
national success. It was at least the twin, in importance, with the 
War Office. Mr. Memminger, of South Carolina, was a self-made 
man, who had managed the finances of his state and had made repu- 
tation for some financiering ability and much common sense. He 
had, moreover, the advantage of being a new man ; and the critics 
were willing to give him the benefit of common law, until he should 
prove himself guilty. Still the finance of the country was so vital, 
and came home so nearly to every man in it, that perhaps a deeper 
anxiety was fe4t about its management than that of any other branch. 

The Attorney-General, or chief of the Department of Justice, 
had a reputation as wide as the continent — and as far as mental 
ability and legal knowledge went, there could be no question among 
the growlers as to his perfect qualifications for the position. ]\Ir. 
Judah P. Benjamin was not only the successful politician, who had 
risen from obscurity to become the leader of his party in the Senate, 
and its exponent of the constitutional questions involved in its action ; 
but he was, also, the first lawyer at the bar of the Supreme Court 
and was known as a ripe and cultivated scholar. So the people who 
shook their heads at him — and they were neither few nor far be- 
tween — did it on other grounds than that of incapacity. 

This was the popular view of that day at the new Capital. The 
•country at large had but little means of knowing the real stuff of 
which the Cabinet was made. It is true, four of the six were old 
and thoroughly broken party horses, who had for years cantered 
around the Washington arena, till the scent of its sawdust was dear 
..to their nostrils. But the people knew little of them individually 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 35 

and took their tone from the poHticians of the past. So — as it is a 
known fact that politicians are never satisfied — the Cabinet and Con- 
gress, as tried in the hotel alembic, were not found pure gold. 

So the country grumbled. The newspapers snarled, criticised 
and asserted, with some show of truth, that things were at a dead 
standstill, and that nothing practical had been accomplished. 

Such was the aspect of affairs at Montgomery, when on the loth 
of April, Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, telegraphed that the 
Government at Washington had notified him of its intention to sup- 
ply Fort Sumter — "Peaceably if we can; forcibly if we must." 

Bulletins were posted before the Exchange, the newspaper office 
and the "Government House;" and for two days there was intense 
suspense as to what course the South would pursue. Then the news 
flashed over the wires that, on the morning of the 12th of April, 
Beauregard had opened the ball in earnest, by commencing the 
bombardment of Fort Sumter. This caused the excitement to go up 
to fever heat ; and the echo of that first gun made every heart in the 
breadth of the land bound with quickened throb. Business was 
suspended, all the stores in the town were closed, while crowds at 
the hotels and in the streets became larger and more anxious as the 
day wore on. Various and strange were the speculations as to the 
issue of the fight and its consequences ; but the conviction came, 
like a thunder clap upon the most skeptical, that there was to be war 
after all ! 



36 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE AWAKENING OF THE LION. 



When tidings came of the fall of Fort Sumter, there was wild- 
rejoicing throughout the South and it culminated at her Capital. All 
the great, and many of the little men of the Government were 
serenaded by bands of the most patriotic musical persuasion. Bon- 
fires blazed in every street and, by their red glare, crowds met and 
exchanged congratulations, amid the wildest enthusiasm ; while the 
beverage dear to the cis-Atlantic heart was poured out in libations- 
wonderful to see ! 

One-half of the country thought that this victory of a few un- 
trained gunners would prevent further progress of the war; that the 
Federal Government, seeing how determined was the stand the South 
had taken — how ready she was to defend her principles — would 
recede and grant the concessions demanded. The other half felt 
that, however fair an augury for the future the great and bloodless 
victory might be — and it will be recollected that the only loss was 
the death of a few United States soldiers, in the salute Beauregard. 
permitted them to give their flag — the real tug of the struggle was 
not yet commenced ; that the whole power of a government, never 
yet overstrained, or even fully tested, would be hurled on the new 
confederation, to crush ere it could concentrate its strength. 

The Confederate Government was on the side of this opinion ; 
and now, for the first time, preparations for war began in earnest. 
Though the people of Montgomery still murmured, as they had 
done from the beginning, at the influx of corrupting social influences 
from Sodom on the Potomac, and still held the hordes of unintro- 
duced strangers aloof from their firesides, they continued most 
strenuous exertions and made most selfless sacrifices to serve the 
beloved cause. Storehouses were freely offered for the public use ; 
and merchants moved from their places of business, on shortest 
notice, to turn them oyer to the Government. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 37 

A great, red brick pile, originally built for warehouses and 
counting-rooms, had early been converted into public offices and pop- 
oilarly named the '* Government House." Here the departments 
were all crowded together; and now, under the pressure cA close 
necessity, the War office was organized into bureaux, at the heads of 
which were placed the most competent officers of the old service at 
the disposal of the Executive. Bureaux of Adjutant-General, Ord- 
nance, Engineers and Medicine were soon put in as perfect a state as 
the condition of the South allowed ; and their respective chiefs were 
tireless in endeavor to collect the very best assistants and material, in 
their various branches, from every quarter. 

Commissioners were sent to all the states that had not already 
joined the Confederacy, to urge them to speedy action ; and the dis- 
patches they sent back were so full of cheer, that day after day a 
salute of cannon from the street in front of the Government House 
announced to the roused Montgomerans that another ally had enlisted 
under the flag; or, that a fresh levy of troops, from some unex- 
pected quarter, had been voted to the cause. 

Officers, carefully selected from those who left the United States 
Army, or who had received military education elsewhere, were 
promptly sent to all points in the South, to urge and hasten the 
organization of troops; to forward those already raised to points 
where they might be most needed ; and to establish recruiting stations 
and camps of instruction. The captured arsenals were put in work- 
ing order, new ones were started, depots for clothes, ordnance and 
medicines were prepared ; and from one boundary of the Confeder- 
acy to the other, the hum of preparation told that the leaders of the 
nation had at last awakened to its real demands. 

The mass of the people — who, from the first, had been willing and 
anxious, but doubtful what to do — now sprang to their places ; mon- 
eyed men made large and generous donations of cash ; the banks 
offered loans of any amount, on most liberal terms ; planters from 
every section made proffers of provisions and stock, in any quantities 
needed ; and the managers of all the railroads in the South held a 
convention at Montgomery and proffered the use of their roads to the 
Government ; volunteering to charge only half-rates, and to receive 
payment in the bonds of the Confederate States. 

Especially did the women go heart and soul into the work; urging 



38 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

the laggards, encouraging the zealous, and laboring with sacrificial 
zeal upon rough uniforms for the most unprepared of the new troops. 

The best blood of the South went cheerfully into the ranks, as the 
post of honor; and the new regiments endeavored to be perfectly- 
impartial in selecting the best men for their officers, irrespective of 
any other claim. That they failed signally in their object was the 
fault, not of their intention, but of human nature in many cases — of 
circumstance in all. 

At this time the plan of filling up the regular army was aban^ 
doned. Officers coming from the United States service were, by 
law, entided to at least as high rank in it as they had there held ; but 
volunteers were asked for and accepted by companies, or regiments, 
with the privilege of choosing their own leaders ; and these regulars 
were only given commands where vacancies, or the exigencies of the 
service, seemed to demand it imperatively. 

Every hour of the day could be heard the tap of the drum, as the 
new troops from depot, or steamer, marched through the town to 
their camps in the suburbs; or as the better drilled volunteer compa- 
nies passed through to Pensacola, where Brigadier-General Braxton 
Bragg already had a considerable force. And toward that point 
every eye was strained as the next great theater of action. 

All day long the churches were open, and crowds of ladies, from 
town and country, assembled in them and sewed on the tough, 
ungainly pants and jackets; while their negro maids, collected on 
the porches, or under the trees, worked as steadily as their mis- 
tresses, many a ringing guffaw and not unmusical song rising above 
them. 

Great numbers of the interested and the curious visited the camps, 
carrying substantial tokens of sympathy for the cause and its defend- 
ers in the shape of hams, loaves and sometimes bottles. Nor was 
such testimony often irrelevant; for as yet the quartermaster and 
commissary — those much-erring and more-cursed adjuncts to all 
armies — were not fully aware of what they were to do, or how to do 
it, even with the means therefor provided. But the South was at last 
awake ! And again the popular voice averred that it was not Con- 
gress, or Cabinet; that the President alone was the motive power; 
that his strong hand had grasped the chaos and reduced it to some- 
thing like order. Rapidly one needful and pointed law after another 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 39 

emanated from Congress; and what had been a confused mass of 
weak resolves assumed shape as clear and legible statutes. It was 
generally said that Mr. Davis had reduced Congress to a pliable 
texture that his iron fingers could twist at will into any form they 
pleased. Newspaper correspondents wrote strange stories of the 
length to which that dignified body allovv'ed him to carry his preroga- 
tive. They declared that frequently, the framing of a bill not suiting 
him, it was simply returned by his private secretary, with verbal 
instructions as to emendations and corrections, which were obediently 
carried out. 

Some even went to the length of asserting that, before any bill 
of importance was framed, a rough draft was sent down from the 
President's office and simply put into form and voted a law by the 
ductile legislators. 

However much of this one may allow for exaggeration of "our 
correspondent," it is certain that Mr. Davis was the heart and brains 
of the government ; and his popularity with the people was, at this 
time, unbounded. They were perfectly content to think that the 
government was in the hollow of his hand; and pronounced any of 
his measures good before they were tried. His energy, too, was 
untiring ; and it was wonderful to look on the frail body and believe 
that it endured the terrible physical and mental strain he imposed 
upon it. 

At this time the President and his family, having left their tempo- 
rary quarters at the hotel, were living at a plain mansion provided for 
them, but a few steps from the Government House. In the latter 
building were the executive office and the Cabinet room, connected 
by an always open door; and in one or the other of these Mr. Davis 
spent some fifteen hours out of every twenty-four. Here he received 
the thousands of visitors whom curiosity, or business, brought; con- 
sulted with his secretaries, revised bills, or framed new projects for 
strengthening the defenses of the open and wide frontier. It was 
said that he managed the War Department, in all its various details, 
in addition to other manifold labors ; finding time notr only to give 
it a general supervision, but to go into all the minutise of the work- 
ing of its bureaux, the choice of all its officers, or agents, and the 
very disbursement of its appropriations. 

His habits were as simple as laborious. He rose early, worked 



40 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

at home until breakfast, then to a long and wearing day at the Gov- 
ernment House. Often, long after midnight, the red glow from his 
office lamp, shining over the mock-orange hedge m front of his dwell- 
ing, told of unremitting strain. Thus early in the drama, Mr. Benja- 
min had become one of its leading actors: having more real weight 
and influence with Mr. Davis than any, or all, of his other advisers. 
The President did not believe there was " safety in a multitude of 
counsellors;" and he certainly chose the subtlest, if not the safest, head 
of the half-dozen to aid him. With Mr. Mallory, too, he seemed on 
very friendly and confidential terms. These two he met as friends 
and advisers ; but beside them, the Cabinet — as such — had scarcely a 
practical existence. Mr. Davis very naturally considered that the 
War Department had become the government, and he managed it 
accordingly. The secretaries were, of course, useful to arrange mat- 
ters formally in their respective branches; but they had scarcely 
higher duties left them than those of their clerks; while Congress 
remained a formal body to pass bills and ratify acts, the inspiration 
for which it derived from the clearest and coolest brain in the South. 

The crisis had called in plain terms that it was time for the lead- 
ing spirit of the revolution to take its management ; and he had risen 
to the occasion and faced the responsibilities, before which the chosen 
of the new nation had hitherto cowered. 

And naturally, under the iron hand, things began to work more 
smoothly than they had under the King-Log reign of a few weeks 
previous ; and the country felt the change from the Potomac to the 
Gulf. True, politicians still grumbled, but less loudly ; for even they 
found something to do, where everybody began to be busy. The 
great crowd that at first collected had thinned greatly, from assign- 
ments to duty in divers quarters ; and that portion of it left in Mont- 
gomery began to settle into a regular routine. 

The ladies of the executive mansion held occasional receptions, 
after the Washington custom, at which were collected the most brill- 
iant, the most gallant and most honored of the South. But the citi- 
zens still held aloof from general connection with the alien crowd. 
They could not get rid of their idea that Sodom had come to be im- 
posed on them ; and to their prejudiced nostrils there was an odor 
of sulphur in everything that savored of Washington society. And 
yet, while they grumbled — these older people of Montgomery — they 



Fo2i7' Years i?i Rebel Capitals. 41 

wrought, heart and soul for the cause ; yielded their warerooms for 
government use, contributed freely in money and stores, let their 
wives and daughters work on the soldiers' clothing like seamstresses, 
and put their first-born into the ranks, musket on shoulder. 

Early on the morning of the i8th of April, a salute of seven guns 
rang out from the street before the public building. The telegraph 
had brought the most welcome news that, on the evening before, 
Virginia had passed the ordinance of secession. 

Wild was the rejoicing at the southern Capital that day ! 

The Old Dominion had long and sedately debated the question ; 
had carefully considered the principles involved and canvassed the 
pros and cons, heedless alike of jeers from without and hot-headed 
counsels within her borders. 

She had trembled long in the balance so tenderly adjusted, that the 
straining eyes of the South could form no notion how it would lean ; 
but now she turned deliberately and poured the vast wealth of her 
influence, of her mineral stores and her stalwart and chivalric sons 
into the lap of the Confederacy. 

The victory of the week before paled before this; and men looked 
at each other with a hope in their eyes that spoke more than the 
braying of a thousand bands. 

And the triumph was a double one ; for great as was the accession 
to the South in boundary, in men and means, greater far was the 
blow to the Union, when its eldest and most honored daughter 
divorced herself from the parent hearth and told the world, that 
looked on with deep suspense, that the cause of her sisters must in 
future be her own! 



42 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER V. 

A SOUTHERN RIVER BOAT RACE. 

■* 'Hurry, my boy ! Pack up your traps and get ready for the boat," 
cried Styles Staple, bursting into my room in his usual sudden fash- 
ion the day we got the news from Virginia. "All's fixed. The 
colonel, you and I are to have a trip of a week, stop at Mobile and 
then run down t' Orleans ! " 

So by sundown we were quietly smoking our cigars on the topmost 
deck of the " Southern Republic." 

Nowhere in the world can be found just such boats as those that 
navigate our south-western rivers. Great three or four-storied con- 
structions, built upon mere flats of the lightest possible draught, with 
length and breadth of beam sufficient to allow storage room for an 
immense number of cotton bales and barrels upon the lowest deck ; 
with their furnaces, boilers and machinery all above the water line, 
they look like up-country hotels that, having got out of their element, 
contemplate a down-trip for the benefit of their health — or cuisine. 

The "Southern Republic" was a new boat, built after the most 
approved plan, on a scale of size and magnificence unequaled on the 
river. Sitting flat and square upon the water, her four decks rising 
one above the other — with the thousand doors and windows of her 
state-rooms seeming to peer like eyes over the balconies around 
them — she seemed more like some fabled marine monster than a vessel 
meant for speed and comfort. Her length was immense, and her 
draught necessarily very light — not four feet when full loaded ; for the 
Alabama is subject to many vagaries and what was a clear channel 
yesterday may be only a two-foot shoal to-day. Of course, with 
solidity and strength sacrificed to this extreme lightness, when the 
powerful engines are put to any strain, the high, thin fabric thrills 
from stem to stern with their every puff, like a huge card-house. 

The speed of a first-class high-pressure boat is very great in the 
longer "reaches ; " but, the Alabama is a most tortuous stream. Often 
you stand by the pilot-house and see, right under the quarter, a 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



43 



gleaming streak of water across a neck of land over which you mio-ht 
toss a stone; and yet you may steam on miles around the point that 
juts ahead, before you get into it. 

The ''Southern Republic," from her immense size and unusually 
handsome equipment, was a novelty even to the river people ; and 
each afternoon of her starting, crowds came aboard to bid farewell 
to friends and roam over the vessel, or collected on the bluffs 
above to see her swing out to the shrill notes of her "calliope," the 
best and least discordant on the river. A few evenings before we 
left, a large party had collected in honor of General Earl Van Dorn. 
He had recently resigned ; and the commission as colonel of the only 
regiment of regular cavalry in the Confederacy was tendered him. 
Now, on the eve of departure for his well-known expedition to Texas — 
then considered a momentous and desperate one — numbers of fair 
women thronged the bluffs to catch a glimpse of the hero of the hour, 
while friends gathered round to grasp the hand, than which no firmer 
ever drew blade ! 

Few men had started in the war with brighter auspices and more 
ardent well-wishings — none could have had a sadder ending ! I 
remember well the last sight I ever had of his neat but powerfully- 
knit figure, as he stood with one hand resting on the rail of the upper 
deck and the other raising his broad sombrero over the clear, sharp 
features, with the peaked moustache and beard of the cuirassier. A 
brilliant and handsome staff surrounded him ; from the bluffs, the 
ladies waved their handkerchiefs and the men their hats ; the wild 
notes of the calliope echoed back the " Marseillaise ; " but in memo- 
ry's photograph of the scene, his figure alone — the proud swell of the 
thin nostril and the deep, smothered flame in the cold gray eye — 
stands out clear and sharp. 

We are aboard the "Southern Republic;" the last bell has 
sounded, the last belated trunk has been trundled over the plank; 
and we are off, the caUiope screaming "Dixie" like ten thousand 
devils, the crowds on the bank waving us bon voyage! 

The main saloon of the boat was a spacious apartment, a hundred 
feet long by thirty in breadth, gorgeously decorated with modern 
paint and brilliantly lighted ; the galleries leading to the state-rooms 
rising tier upon tier entirely around it, while above, a skylight of 
tinted glass shed a soft, warm light. 



44 Four Years i?i Rebel Capitals. 

There were offices, card-rooms, bar-rooms aboard all these boats ; 
and as the down-trip occupies from forty-eight to one hundred 
hours — according to the stage of the river and the luck in running 
aground, a performance to be expected once in each trip — we 
become quite a mutual amusement community by the time it is over. 

This trip the boat was very crowded, and at supper the effect of the 
line of small tables, filled with officers in uniform, ladies tastefully 
' dressed and a sprinkling of homespun coats — all reflected in the long 
mirror — was very bright and gay. After meals, there is generally a 
promenade on the upper deck, where people talk, smoke, inspect 
each other and flirt. They then adjourn to state-room, saloon or 
card-room, to lounge or read to kill time ; for the Alabama is any- 
thing but a picturesque stream, with its low, marshy banks only 
varied by occasional " cotton slides" and " negro quarters." 

This night was splendidly clear, the moon bright as day, and Sta- 
ple and I with our cigars staid on deck to scrape acquaintance with the 
pilot and the small, seedy Frenchman who officiated at the calliope. He 
was an original in his way — " the Professor" — his head like a bullet, 
garnished with hair of the most wiry blackness, cut close as the scis- 
sors could hold it, looking like the most uncompromising porcupine. 
Of course, he was a political refugee. 

''Dixie! Aire nationalel pas bonne chose T' he exclaimed, seating 
himself at his instrument and twirling a huge moustache. '■'■Voila 
le Marseillaise ! Zat make hymn national for you ! " And he made 
the whistle roar and shriek in a way to have sent the red caps into 
the air a hundred miles away. 

"Grand! Splendid!" roared Styles above the steam. "Why, 
Professor, you're a genius. Come and take some brandy." 

The professor banged the lid of his instrument, led the way 
instanter down to our state-room ; and, once there, did take some- 
thing ; then something else and, finally, something more, till he got 
very thick-tongued and enthusiastic. 

"Grand aire of ze Liberte!" he cried at last, mounting again 
to his perch by the smoke-stack. *'Song compose by me for one 
grand man — ze Van Dorn. I make zees — me, myself — and dedicate 
to heem ! " And he banged at the keys till he tortured the steam 
into the Liberty duet, from ''Furi/ani." 

" How you fine zat, eh? Zat makes ze hymn for ze Souse. Me, 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 45, 

I am republicain ! Voila ! I wear ze moustache of ze revolutionaire — 
my hairs cut themselves en mecontent! Were zere colere more red as 
red, I should be zat ! " 

The professor was so struck by the brilliancy of this idea, that he 
played the air again, until it rang like a phantom chorus over the 
still plantations. At last, overcome by emotion and brandy, he slid 
from the stool and sat at the foot of the smoke-stack, muttering : 

"Zat is ze hymn — Jiic — dedicate to ze general and to ze — hie — 
countree ! " Then he slept the sleep of the just conscience. 

" Thar's the 'Senator,' and she's gainin' on us," said the pilot, 
as we walked forward, pointing to a thin column of smoke rising over 
the trees just abreast of us. 

" How far astern?" 

"A matter of two mile round that pint." 

•' Splendid night for a race," muttered Styles. ♦* Will she overtake 
us, Cap'n?" 

"Wail, maibee ! " replied the old river dog, while the most pro- 
fessional grin shot over his hard-wooden features. " Specially ef I 
ease up this 'ar ole gal." 

" Ha! Now we'll have it. We won't turn in just now," chuck- 
led Styles, banging me in the back. 

Almost imperceptibly our speed slackens, the thin dark column 
creeps nearer round the trees on the point in our wake ; at last the 
steamer bursts into sight, not a pistol shot astern. 

There is a sharp click of our pilot's bell, a gasping throb, as if 
our boat took a deep, long breath; and just as the " Senator " makes 
our wheel we dash ahead again, with every stroke of the piston 
threatening to rack our frail fabric into shreds. 

The river here is pretty wide and the channel deep and clear. 
The "Senator" follows in gallant style, now gaining our quarter, 
now a boat's length astern — both engines roaring and snorting like 
angry hippopotami ; both vessels rocking and straining till they seem 
to paw their way through the churned water. 

Talk of horse-racing and rouge-et-noir ! But there is no excitement 
that can approach boat-racing on a southern river ! One by one peo- 
ple pop up the ladders and throng the rails. First come the unem- 
ployed deck-hands, then a stray gentleman or two, and finally ladies 
and children, till the rail is full and every eye is anxiously strained 
to the opposite boat. 



46 Foil)- Years hi Rebel Capitals. 

She holds her own wondrous well, considering the reputation of 
ours. At each burst, when she seems to gain on us, the crowd 
hold their breath; as she drops off again there is a deep-drawn, 
gasping sign of relief, like wind in the pines. Even the colonel has 
roused himself from dreams of turtle at the St. Charles, and red fish 
at Pensacola ; coming on deck in a shooting jacket and glengary cap, 
that make him look like a jaunty Fosco. He leans over the stern 
rail, smoking his cabana in long, easy whifU's as we gain a length ; 
sending out short, angry puffs at the "Senator" as she creeps up on 
us. 

Foot by foot, we gain steadily until the gap is widened to three 
or four boat-lengths, though the* "Senator" piles her fires till the 
shores behind her glow from their reflection ; and her decks — now 
black with anxious lookers-on — send up cheer after cheer, as she 
snorts defiantly after us. 

Suddenly the bank seems to spring up right under our port bow ! 
We have cut it too close ! Two sharp, vicious clicks of the bell ; our 
helm goes hard down and the engines stop with a sullen jar, as I 
catch a hissing curse through the set teeth of the pilot. 

A yell of wild triumph rises from the rival's deck. On she comes 
in gallant style, shutting the gap and passing us like a race-horse. 
before we can swing into the channel and recover headway. It is a 
splendid sight as the noble boat passes us ; her black bulk standing 
out in the clear moonlight against the dim, gray banks like a living 
monster ; her great chimneys snorting out volumes of massive black 
smoke that trail out level behind her, from the great speed. Her 
side toward us is crowded with men, women and children ; hats, 
handkerchiefs and hands are swung madly about to aid the effort of 
the hundred voices. 

Close down to the water's edge — scarce above the line of foam 
she cuts — her lower deck lies black and undefined in the shadow of 
the great mass above it. Suddenly it lights up with a lurid flash, as 
the furnace-doors swing wide open ; and in the hot glare the negro 
stokers — their stalwart forms jetty black, naked to the waist and stream- 
ing with exertion that makes the muscles strain out in great cords — 
show like the distorted imps of some pictured inferno. The5% too, 
have imbibed the excitement. With every gesture of anxious haste 
and eyeballs starting from their dusky heads, some plunge the long 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 47 

rakes into the red mouths of the furnace, twisting and turning the 
crackling mass with terrific strength ; others hurl in huge logs of 
resinous pine, already heated by contact till they burn like pitch. 
Then the great doors bang to; the Yol Ho! of the negroes dies away 
and the whole hull is blacker from the contrast; while the "Senator," 
puffing denser clouds than ever, swings round the point a hundred 
yards ahead ! 

There is dead silence on our boat — silence so deep that the rough 
whisper of the pilot to the knot around him is heard the whole length 
of her deck : " Damnation! but I'll overstep her yit, or bust!" 

" Good, old man !" responds Styles — " Let her out and I'll stand 
the wine !" 

Then the old colonel walks to the wheel ; his face purple, his 
glengary pushed back on his head, his cigar glowing like the " red 
eye of battle," as he puffs angry wheezes of smoke through his nos- 
trils. 

" Damned hard! sir — hard ! Egad! I'd burn the last ham in the 
locker to overtake her!" — and he hurls the glowing stump after the 
"Senator," as the Spartan youth hurled their shields into the thick 
of the battle ere rushing to reclaim them. 

On w^e speed, till the trees on the bank seem to fly back past us ; 
and round the point to see the "Senator," just turning another curve ! 

On still, faster than ever, wdth every glass on board jingling in its 
frame ; every joint and timber trembling, as though with a congestive 
chill ! 

Still the black demons below ply their fires with the fattest logs, 
and even a few barrels of rosin are slyly slipped in ; the smoke 
behind us stretched straight and flat from the smoke-stack. 
*> Now we enter a straight, narrow reach with the chase just before 
us. Faster — faster we go till the boat fairly rocks and swings from 
side to side, half lifted with every throb of the engine. Closer and 
closer we creep — harder and harder thump the cylinders — until at 
last we close ; our bow just lapping her stern ! So we run a few 
yards. 

Little by little — so little that we test it by counting her windows — 
we reach her wheel — pass it — lock her bow, and run nose and nose 
for a hundred feet ! 

The stillness of death is upon both boats ; not a sound but the 



4S Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

creak and shudder as they struggle on. Suddenly the hard voice of 
our old pilot crashes through it like a broadaxe : 

" Good-bye, Sen'tor ! I'll send yer a tug !" — and he gives his bell 
a merry click. 

Our huge boat gives one shuddering throb that racks her from 
end to end — one plunge — and then she settles into a steady rush and 
forges rapidly and evenly ahead. Wider and wider grows the gap; 
and we wind out of sight with the beaten boat five hundred yards 
behind us. 

The cigar I take from my mouth, to make way for the deep, long 
sigh, is chewed to perfect pulp. A wild, pent-up yell of half-savage 
triumph goes up from the crowded deck ; such as is heard nowhere 
besides, save where the captured work rewards the bloody and oft- 
repeated charge. Cheer after cheer follows; and, as we approach 
the thin column of smoke curling over the trees between us. Styles 
bestrides the prostrate form of the still sleeping professor and makes 
the calliope yell and shriek that classic ditty, "Old Gray Horse, come 
out of the Wilderness !" at the invisible rival. 

I doubt if heartier toast was ever drunk than that the colonel gave 
the group around the wheel-house, when Styles "stood" the wine 
plighted the pilot. The veteran was beaming, the glengary sat jaunt- 
ily on one side ; and his voice actually gurgled as he said : 

" Egad ! I'd miss ray dinner for a week for this ! Gentlemen, a 
toast ! Here's to the old boat ! God bless her soul!'' 



Four Years iti Rebel Capitals. 49 



CHAPTER VI. 



BOAT LIFE AFLOAT AND AGROUND. 



The day after the race our trio exhausted all usual resources of 
boat life. We lounged in the saloon and saw the young ladies man- 
age their beaux and the old ones their children; dropped into the 
card-rooms and watched the innocent games — some heavy ones of 
"draw poker" with a ''bale better;" some light ones of "all fours," 
with only an occasional old sinner deep in chess, or solitaire. For 
cards, conversation, tobacco, yarns and the bar make up boat life; 
it being rare, indeed, that the ennui is attacked from the barricade of 
a book. Then we roamed below and saw the negroes — our demons 
of the night before, much modified by sunlight — tend the fires and 
load cotton. A splendidly developed race are those Africans of the 
river boats, with shiny, black skins, through which the corded and 
tense muscles seem to be bursting, even in repose. Their only dress, 
as a general thing, is a pair of loose pantaloons, to which the more 
elegant add a fancy colored bandanna knotted about the head, with 
its wing-like ends flying in the wind; but shirts are a rarity in work- 
ing hours and their absence shows a breadth of shoulder and depth 
of chest remarkable, when contrasted with the length and lank power 
in the nether limbs. They are a perfectly careless and jovial race, 
with wants confined to the only luxuries they know — plenty to eat, 
a short pipe and a plug of " nigger-head," with occasional drinks, of 
any kind and quantity that fall to their lot. Given these, they are as 
contented as princes ; and their great eyes roll like white saucers and 
their splendid teeth flash in constant merriment. 

As we got further down the river, the flats became less frequent 
and high, steep bluff's took their place ; and at every landing along 
these we laid-by for cotton and took in considerable quantities of 
"the king." 

Some of the bluffs were from sixty to eighty feet in height ; and 
down these, the cotton came on slides. These, in most cases, were 
4 



5© Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

at an angle of forty-five degrees, or less ; strongly constructed of 
lieavy beams, cross-tied together and firmly pegged into the hard 
bluff-clay. A small, solid platform at the bottom completed the 
slide. 

Scarcely would the plank be run out when the heavy bales came 
bounding down the slide, gaining momentum at every yard of de- 
scent, till at the bottom they had the velocity of a cannon-ball. The 
«iexterity and strength of the negroes were here wonderfully dis- 
played. 

Standing at the edge of the boat — or at the foot of the slide, as 
the conformation of the landing indicated — heavy cotton-hook in 
hand, they watch the descending bale, as it bounds fiercely toward 
them; and just at the right moment two men, with infinite dexterity 
of hand and certainty of eye, strike their hooks firmly into the bag- 
ging — holding on to the plunging mass and going with it halfway 
across the boat. Full in front of it a third stands, like a ??iaiador 
ready for the blow ; and striking his hook deep in the end, by a sud- 
den and simultaneous twist the three stand the bale upon end. Once 
stopped, two or three more jerks of the hooks and it is neatly stowed 
away alongside, or on top of, its fellows. 

One constantly sees huge bales of from five to six hundred 
pounds bound down a slide eighty feet high — scarcely touching the 
rail more than three times in their steep descent — looking almost 
Tound from the rapidity of their motion. Yet tv/o negroes drive 
their hooks into, and spin along with them ; visibly checking their 
speed, till the third one ''heads up" and stops them still, in half a • 
boat's width. 

Sometimes a hook slips, the bagging gives, or the footing yields, 
when the mixed mass of man and bale rolls across the boat and goes 
under together. But frightful as it looks to unaccustomed eyes, 
a more serious accident than a ducking seldom occurs; and at that, 
the banks resound with the yells of laughter Sambo sends after his 
brother-in- water. 

*' We've pretty thoroughly done the boat," said Styles, about 
midday. "Let's go up to the professor's den and see if his head 
aches from 'ze Van Dorn.' " 

So up we mounted, passing on the way the faro bank, that adver- 
tises its neighborhood by most musical jingling of chips and half 
dollars. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 51 

"Hello, Spring Chicken," cried Styles, to a youth in a blue 
sack with shoulder straps, who sat at the door of a state-room near 
by. ** Look out for the tiger ! I hear him about." 

**No danger, me boy," responded the youth. "I'm too old a 
stager for that." 

"Aye, aye! we seen that before," put in his companion, a but- 
toned middle of eighteen, innocent of beard. " A confounded 
pigeon came by here just now, jingling his halves and pretending 
he'd won 'em. Wasting time! Wasn't he. Styles? WeWe too old 
birds to be caught with chaff." 

" Look alive, my hearty," answered Staple, "You're pretty near 
the beast, and mamma doesn't know you're out." With which 
paternal admonition we ascended. 

The professor was still in a deep sleep ; having been transferred 
by the aid of a deck hand, or two, to his bower. This was a box of 
a state-room six feet by nine, in which was a most dilapidated double- 
bass, a violin case and a French horn. Over the berth, a cracked 
guitar hung by a greasy blue ribbon. Staple waked him without 
ceremony — ordered Congress water, pulled out the instruments ; and 
soon we were in "a concord of sweet sounds," the like of which the 
mermaids of the Alabama had not heard before. 

Suddenly, in the midst of a roaring chorus, there was a short, 
heavy jar that sent us pellmell across the state-room ; then a series of 
grinding jolts ; and, amid the yelling of orders, jangling of bells and 
backing of .the wheels, the boat swung slowly round by the bows. 
We were hard and fast aground ! 

Of all the unpleasant episodes of river travel, the worst by far is 
to be grounded in the daytime. The dreary monotony of bank and 
stream as you glide by increases ten-fold when lying, hour after 
hour, with nothing to do but gaze at it. Under this trial the jolliest 
faces grow long and dismal; quiet men become dreadfully blue and 
the saturnine look actually suicidal. Even the negro hands talk 
under their breath, and the broad Yah! Yah! comes less frequently 
from below decks. 

Here we lay, two miles above Selma — hard and fast, with en- 
gines and anchors equally useless to move us a foot — until midnight. 
About sundown an up-boat passed just across our bows. Little is 
the sympathy a grounded boat gets unless actually in danger. Every 



52 Four }\'(7rs in Rebel Capitals. 

soul aboard of her, from captain to cook's boy, seemed to think us 
fair game, and chaff of all kinds was hailed from her decks. But she 
tlirew us a Selma paper of that evening, and a hundred eager hands 
were stretched over the side to catch it. 

It fell at the feet of a slight, wiry man of about fifty, with twink- 
ling gray eyes, prominent features and fierce gray moustache. There 
was something in his manner that kept the more ardent ones from 
plucking it out of his fingers, as he stooped quietly to pick it up ; but 
few on board ever knew that their quiet fellow-passenger was the 
most widely known "rebel of them all." 

Many a man has read, with quickening breath, of the bold deeds 
of Admiral Raphael Semmes ; and some have traced his blazing track 
to the, perhaps. Quixotic joust that ended his wild sea-kingship, never 
recalling that impassive fellow-passenger. Yet it was he who, seated 
on the rail of the "Southern Republic,"' read to the crowd that 
evening. 

"What's the Washington news?" — "Anything more from Vir- 
ginia ! " — " What about Tennessee convention ? " — " Has Bra^ir com- 
menced business ? " — and a thousand equally eager questions popped 
from the impatient crowd. 

" There is news, indeed ! " answered Captain Semmes. " Listen, 
my friends, for the war has commenced in earnest." 

And here, on the quiet southern river, we first heard how Balti- 
more had risen to drive out the troops; how there had been wild 
work made in spite of the police, and how hot blood of her citizens 
had stained the streets of the town. The account ended with the 
city still in frightful commotion, the people arming and companies 
assembling at their armories; and without even hinting the number 
of those hurt in the fight. 

No more ennui o\\ board now. All was as much excitement as if 
we were racing along again ; and, through the buzz and angry excla- 
mations of the knots collected on all hands, we could catch the most 
varied predictions of the result, and speculations as to President 
Lincoln's real policy. 

" ISIaryland must act at once. Egad, sir, at cnce, if she wants to 
come to us, sir," said the colonel, haranguing his group. " If she 
doesn't, egad ! she'll be tied hand and foot in a week ! Facilis 
descensus, you know ! " 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 53 

"Pshaw, Baltimore's noted for mobs," said an Alabamian. 
*'This is only a little more than usual. In a week she'll forget all 
about it." 

"This is more than a mob," answered a Virginian quietly. 
"Blood must come out of it; for the people will all go one way 
now, or make two strong and bitter parties. For my part, I believe 
Maryland will be with us before this boat gets off." 

Late at night we swung loose and rushed past Selma, with the 
calliope screaming " Dixie " and " ze Van Dorn ; " for the professor 
was himself again and waxed irate and red-patriotic over the news. 
We could get no more papers, however ; so suspense and speculation 
continued until we reached Mobile. 

There we heard of the quelling of the riot; of the course of the 
citizens; of Mr. Lincoln's pledges to the Baltimore committee, that 
no more troops should pass through the town ; of his statement that 
those already passed were only intended for the defense of the 
Capital. 

" Pretty fair pledges. Colonel," said Styles, when we got this last 
news. 

"Fair pledges !" responded the colonel, with serious emphasis, 
*' Egad, sir ! — we^ve lost a State !" 



54 I^our Ytars in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MOBILE, THE GULF CITY. 

Mobile was in a state of perfect ferment when we arrived. The 
news from Maryland had made profound sensation and had dissipated 
the delusive hopes — indulged there as well as in Montgomery — like 
mists before the sun. 

All now agreed that war must come. Many thought it already 
upon them. Groups, anxious and steadfast, filled the hotels, the 
clubs and the post-otBce ; and the sense of all was that ^Maryland had 
spoken not one hour too soon ; having spoken, the simple duty of the 
South was to prevent harm to a hair of her head for words said in 
its defense. 

Those who had been the hottest in branding the action of Vir- 
ginia as laggard, looked to her for the steadiest and most efficient 
aid, now that the crisis faced them ; while all felt she would meet 
the calls of the hour with never a pause for the result. The san- 
guine counted on Maryland, bound by every community of interest, 
every tie of sympathy — as already one of the Confederate States. 
She was no longer neutral, they said. She had put her lance in rest 
and rallied to the charge, in the avowed quarrel that the troops at- 
tacked were on their way to oppress her next sister. And nothing 
could follow but Virginia's bright falchion must flash out, and the 
states must lock shields and press between her and the giant she had 
roused. 

The Gulf City had not been idle. The echo of the first gun at 
Charleston had roused her people; and with a wonderful accord 
they had sprung to arms. Law books were thrown aside, merchants 
locked up their ledgers, even students of theology forgot that they 
were men of peace — and all enrolled themselves in the "crack" 
companies. No wonder, when the very best blood of the state ran 
in the veins of the humblest privvate ; when men of letters and cult- 
ure and wealth refused any but "the post of honor," with musket 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 55 

on shoulder; whea the most delicate fingers of their fairest worked 
the flags that floated over them, and the softest voices urged then? to> 
their devoir; no wonder, then, that high on the roll of fame are 
now written the names of the Mobile Cadets — of the Gulf City 
Guards — of the Rifles — and enough others to make the list as long as 
Leporello's. Not one in ten of the best born youth of Mobile re- 
mained at home; the mechanics, the stevedores and men of every 
class flocked to follow their example, so that the city alone gave two 
full regiments and helped to fill up others. The news from Virginxai 
and Maryland had given but a fresh impetus to these preparations 5; 
and, before my return to Montgomery, these regiments had passed 
through, on their way to the new battle ground on the Potomac 
frontier. 

On the night of our arrival in the Gulf City, that escape valve for 
all excitement, a dense crowd, collected in front of the Battle House 
and Colonel John Forsyth addressed them from the balcony. He 
had just returned from Washington with the southern commissioners 
and gave, he said, a true narrative of the manner and results of their 
mission. At this lapse of time it is needless to detail even the sub- 
stance of his speech ; but it made a marked impression on the crowd, 
as the surging sea of upturned faces plainly told. John Forsyth^ 
already acknowledged one of the ablest of southern leaders, was a. 
veritable Harry Hotspur. His views brooked no delay or temporiz- 
ing ; and, as he spoke, in vein of fiery elegance, shouts and yells oF 
defiant approval rose in full swell of a thousand voices. Once lie 
named a noted Alabamian, whom he seemingly believed to have. 
played a double part in these negotiations ; and the excited auditory- 
greeted his name with hisses and execrations. That they did their 
fellow-citizen injustice the most trying councils of the war proved 5 
for he soon after came South and wrought, with all the grand power- 
in him, during the whole enduring struggle. 

Staple was tired of politics, and hated a crowd ; so he soon ■ 
lounged off to the club, an institution gotten up with a delightfol. 
regard to the most comfortable arrangement and the most accom- 
plished chef'm the South. There one met the most cordial hospitality^ , 
the neatest entertainment and the very best wines in the Gulf section.. 
The cook was an artist, as our first supper declared ; and play could! 
be found, too, as needed ; for young ^Mobile was not slow, and moneyj^ 
in those days, was plenty. 



56 Fo2cr Yeats in Rebel Capitals. 

Altogether, the tone of IMobile society was more cosmopohtan 
than that of any city of the South, save, perhaps, New Orleans. It 
may be that its commercial connections, reaching largely abroad, 
produced the effect ; or that propinquity to and constant intercourse 
with its sister city induced freer mode of thought and action. Lo- 
cated at the head of her beautiful bay, with a wide sweep of blue 
water before her, the cleanly-built, unpaved streets gave Mobile a 
fresh, cool aspect. The houses were fine and their appointments in 
good, and sometimes luxurious, taste. The society was a very pleas- 
ure-loving organization, enjoying the gifts of situation, of climate and 
of fortune to their full. On dit, it sometimes forgot the Spartan 
code ; but the stranger was never made aware of that, for it ever 
sedulously remembered good taste. 

Between the drives, dinners and other time-killers, one week 
slipped around with great rapidity ; and we could hardly realize it 
when the colonel looked over his newspaper at breakfast and said : 

"Last day, boys! Egad! the cooking here is a little different 
from Montgomery — but we must take the 'Cuba' this evening." 

So adieux were spoken, and at dusk we went aboard the snug, 
neat little Gulf steamer of the New Orleans line. She was a triipmer 
craft than our floating card-house of river travel, built for a little out- 
side work in case of necessity, or the chances of a norther. 

We scudded merrily down the bay toward Fort Morgan, the grim 
sentinel sitting dark and lonely at the harbor's mouth and showing a 
row of teeth that might be a warning. The fort was now put in 
thorough repair and readiness by Colonel Hardee, of the regular 
army of the Confederate States. 

I was following Styles down from the upper deck, when we heard 
high voices from the end of the boat, and recognized one exclaiming : 

"Curse you! I'll cut your ear off!" 

Round the open bar we found an excited crowd, in the center of 
which was our worldly-minded middie of river-boat memory and 
"Spring Chicken," his colleague; both talking very loud, and the 
latter exhibiting a bowie-knife half as long as himself. By considera- 
ble talk and more elbowing, we made our way to the boys ; and, 
with the aid of a friendly stoker, got them both safely in my state- 
room. 

Once there, the man of the world — who, unlike the needy knife- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 57 

grinder, had a story — told it. After getting on the boat, Spring 
Chicken had been taking mint with sugar and something; and he 
took it once too often. Seeing this, the worldling tried to get him 
forward to his state-room ; but, as we passed the fort, a jolly passen- 
ger, who had also taken mint, waved his hat at the fortification and 
cried out : 

" Hurrah for Muggins ! " 

Spring Chicken stopped, balanced himself on his heels and an- 
nounced with much dignity 

"Sir, / am Muggins! " 

" Didn't know you, Muggins," responded the shouter, who fortu- 
nately had not taken fighting whisky. "Beg pardon. Muggins ! Hur- 
rah for Peacock ! Yah — a-hr^ 

"See here, my good fellow, I'm Peacock!" repeated Spring 
Chicken. 

" The thunder you are ! You can't be two people !" 

" Sir!" responded Spring Chicken, with even greater dignity, " I 
do not — hie — desire to argue with you. I am Peacock !" 

The man laughed. "The Peacock I mean is a northern man " 

"/'w a northern man," yelled the now irate Spring Chicken, 
"Curse you, sir! what are my principles to you? I'll cut your ear 
oft"!" And it was this peaceful proposition that attracted our atten- 
tion, in time to prevent any trouble with the ugly knife he drew from 
his back. 

Spring Chicken had remained passive during the recital of the 
more sober worldling. Sundry muttered oaths had sufticed him until 
it was over, when he made the lucid explanation: 

" Reas'l didl't — hie — dam decoy — bet ol red — ev'ry cent — /«?/" 

This the worldling translated and the murder was out. When we 
lost sight of the boys on the Southern Republic, they had ordered 
wine. At dinner they had more ; and — glowing therewith, as they 
sat over their cigars on the gallery — did not "stop their ears," but, 
on the contrary, "listed to the voice of the charmer." When the 
stool pigeon once more stood in the doorway, rattling his half dollars, 
they followed him into the den of the tiger. 

" Faro" went against them ; " odd-and-even " was worse ; rouge-et- 
noir worst of all ; and at night they were sober and dead broke, an 
unpleasant but not infrequent phase of boat life. 



5S Four Years :')> Rebel Capitals. 

" Didl't have aly wasli to spout," remarked Spring Chicken, wiih 
his head under his arm. 

'* Yes — we owed our wine bill," continued the middie, whose world- 
liness decreased as he got sober. " and our trunk was in pawn to the 
nigger we owed a quarter tor taking care of it. So as soon as the 
boat touched, I ran tbr'ard and jumped oflf, while he waited to keep 
the things in sight till I came back." 

'* So he was in pawn, too, egad!'' said the colonel. 

"Thasso, ol' cock 1" hiccoughed Spring Chicken. 

"And when I got the money and we went up town, we met the 
cussed decoy again, and we were fools enough to go again " 

" Williz molley — damniz — htc — eyes !" interpolated the other. 

'• And we got broke again — and this fellow that hollowed 

Muggins looked like the decoy, but he wasn't. That's the whole 
truth, Mr. Styles." 

" Mussput — hie — fi dolius on-jack?" remarked Spring Chicken. 
" See yer, Styse — o'boy, damfattolman — Con'l is !" and he curled iVom 
the lounge to the floor and slept peacefully. 

•' Mv young frieiid," remarked Styles gravely to the middie, as we 
tucked the insensible Spring Chicken into his berth — ''If you want 
to gamble, j-ouMl do it — so I don't advise you. But these amphibious 
beasts are dangerous ; so in future play with gentlemen and let them 
alone." 

•'And. my boy," said the colonel, enunciating his moral lesson — 
"gambling is bad enough, egad! but any man is lost — yes, sir, lost! 
— who will drink mint — after Jin fier !'* 

With which great moral axioms we retired and slept until our 
steamer reached the "Queen City of the South."' 



Four Years in Rcbtl Capitals. 59 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NEW ORLEANS, THE CRESCENT CITY. 

At a first glimpse, New Orleans of those days was anything but a 
picturesque city. Built upon marshy flats, below the level of the 
river and protected from inundation by the Levee, her antique and 
weathered houses seemed to cower and cluster together as though in 
fear. 

But for a long time, "The Crescent City " had been at the head of 
commercial importance — and the desideratum of direct trade had 
been more nearly filled by her enterprising merchants than all others 
in the South. The very great majority of the wealthy population was 
either Creole, or French ; and their connection with European houses 
may account in some measure for that fact. The coasting trade at 
the war was heavy all along the Gulf shore ; the trade with the 
islands a source of large revenue , and there were lines and frequent 
private enterprises across the ocean. 

For many reasons, it was then believed New Orleans could never 
become a great port. Foremost, the conformation of the Delta, at 
the mouth of the river, prevented vessels drawing over fifteen feet — 
at most favorable tides — from crossing either of the three bars ; and 
the most practical and scientific engineers, both of civil life and the 
army, had long tried in vain to remedy the defect for longer than a 
few weeks. Numerous causes have been assigned for the rapid ref- 
ormation of these bars; the chemical action of the salt upon the 
vegetable matter in the river water ; the rapid deposit of alluvium as 
the current slackens; and a churning effect produced by the meeting 
of the channel with the waves of the Gulf. They could not be suc- 
cessfully removed, however, and were a great drawback to the trade 
of the city; which its location at the mouth of the great water avenue 
of the whole West, makes more advantageous than any other point in 
the South. 

The river business in cotton, sugar and syrup was, at this time. 



6o Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

immense ; and the agents of the planters — factor is the generic term 
— made large fortunes in buying and selling at a merely nominal rate 
of percentage. The southern planter of ante-bellum days was a man 
of ease and luxury, careless of business and free to excess with 
money ; and relations between him and his agent were entirely unique. 

He had the same factor for years, drawing when he pleased for 
any amount, keeping open books. When his crop came in, it was 
shipped to the factor, the money retained — subject to draft — or in- 
vested. But it was by no means rare, when reckoning day came, for 
the advance drafts to have left the planter in debt his whole crop to 
the factor. In that case, it used to cost him a trip to Europe, or 
a summer at Saratoga only ; and he stayed on his plantation and did 
not cry over the spilt milk, however loudly his ladies may have 
wailed for the missing creme-de-la-erane of Virginia springs. 

The morning after arrival we at last saw " the house;" which, far 
from being an imposing edifice, was a dingy, small office, just oft the 
Levee, with the dingier sign of "Long, Staple & Middling" over 
the door. There were a few stalwart negroes basking in the sun 
about the entrance, sleeping comfortably in the white glare, or show- 
ing glancing ivories, in broad grins — each one keeping his shining 
cotton hook in full view, like a badge of office. Within was a per- 
fect steam of business, and Staple fere was studying a huge ledger 
through a pair of heavy gold spectacles — popping orders like fire- 
crackers, at half a dozen attentive clerks. Long, the senior partner, 
was in Virginia — and Middling, the junior, was hardly more than an 
expert foreman of the establishment. 

" Happy, indeed, to meet you, sir! — 93 of Red River lot, Mr. 
Edds — Heard of you frequently — Terribly busy times these, sir, part- 
ner away — 13.094 middlins, for diamond B at 16 V3, Adams . 

W^e dine at seven, you remember. Styles — Don't be in a hurry, sir ! — 
1,642 A. B., page 684, Carter Good day— See you at seven." 

And it was only over the perfect claret, at the emphasized hour, 
that we discovered Mr. Staple to be a man of fine mind and exten- 
sive culture, a hearty sympathizer in the rebellion — into which he 
would have thrown his last dollar — and one of the most successful 
men on the Levee. Long, his senior partner, was a western man of 
hard, keen business sense, who had come to New Orleans fifty years 
before, a barefooted deck-hand on an Ohio schooner. By shrewd- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 6r 

ness, dogged industry and some little luck, he made *' Long's" the 
best known and richest house in the South-west, until in the crash 
of '37 it threatened to topple down forever. Then Mr. Staple came 
forward with his great credit and large amount of spare capital, saved 
the house and went into it himself; while Middling, the former clerk 
of all work, was promoted, for fidelity in the trying times, to a small 
partnership. 

Like all the heavy cotton men of the South, Mr. Staple believed 
firmly that cotton was king, and that the first steamer into a south- 
ern port would bring a French and British minister. 

" It's against our interest for the present to do so," he said, con- 
fidently; "but my partner and I have advised all our planters to hold 
their cotton instead of shipping it, that the market may not be 
glutted when the foreign ships come in. And, yet, sir, it's coming 
down now faster than ever. Everybody prefers, in the disorganized 
state of things, to have ready money for cotton, that in three months' 
time must be worth from twenty to thirty cents ! " 

" Hard to believe, sir, isn't it? Yet our planters, looking at things 
from their own contracted standpoint, think the English and French 
cabinets will defer recognition of our Government. As for 'the 
house,' sir, it will put all it possesses into the belief that they can 
not prove so blind ! " 

Like most of the wealthy men in New Orleans, Mr. Staple had a 
charmingly located villa a mile from the lake and drove out every 
evening, after business hours, to pass the night. 

"Not that I fear the fever," he explained. "What strangers re- 
gard as such certain death is to us scarce more than the agues of a 
North Carolina flat. ' Yellow Jack ' is a terrible scourge, indeed, to 
the lower classes, and to those not acclimatized. The heavy deposits 
of vegetable drift from the inundations leave the whole country for 
miles coated four or five inches deep in creamy loam. This decom- 
poses most rapidly upon the approach of hot weather, and the action 
of the dews, when they begin to fall upon it, causes the jniasmata \.(y 
rise in dense and poisonous mists. Now these, of course, are as bad 
in country — except in very elevated localities — as in town; but they 
are only dangerous in crowded sections, or to the enervated constitu- 
tions that could as ill resist any other disease." 

"You astonish me, indeed," I answered. "Fori have always 



62 Fou?- Years in Rebel Capitals. 

classed yellow fever and cholera as twin destroyers. They must be, 
from such seasons as you have every few years.' 

" So all strangers think. But to the resident, who from choice, or 
business engagements, has passed one summer in the city, 'Jack' 
loses his terrors. The symptoms are unmistakable. Slight nausea 
and pain in the back, headache and a soup^on of chill. The work, 
ingman feels these. He can not spare the time or the doctor's bill, 
perhaps. He poohs the matter — it will pass oft' — and goes to work. 
The delay and the sun set the disease ; and he is brought home at 
night — or staggers to the nearest hospital — to die of the black vomit 
in thirty-six hours. Hence, the great mortality. 

'' Now, I feel these pains, I at once recognize the fever, go right 
home, bathe feet and back in hot water, take a strong aperient, put 
mustard on my stomach and pile on the blankets. In an hour I am 
bathed in sweat till maybe it drips through the mattress. I put on 
another blanket, take a hot draught with an opiate, and go to sleep. 
It is not a pleasant thing, with the thermometer at ninety degrees in 
the shade; but when I wake in the morning, I have saved an attack 
of fever." 

This regimen was constantly repeated to me. In the district 
crowded with the poorer classes, who are dependent on their daily 
labor for their daily bread, the fever stalks gaunt and noisome, mark- 
ing his victims a^d seldom in vain. All day long, and far into the 
niiht in bad seasons, tlie low, dull rumble of the dead-cart echoed 
through the narrow streets ; and at the door of every squalid house 
was the plain pine box that held what was left of some one of its loved 
inmates. Yet through this carnival of death, steadily and fearlessly, 
the better class of workers walk : not dreading the contagion and se- 
cure in their harness of precaution. 

To sleep in the infected atmosphere in sickly quarters was thought 
more dangerous; but any business man considered himself safe, if he 
only breathed the poisonous air in the daytime. The resident phy- 
sicians, in their recent treatment, feel the disease quite in their hands, 
when no other foe than the fever is to be combated. Any preceding 
excess of diet, drink or excitement is apt to aggravate it; but in ordi- 
nary cases, where proper remedies are taken in season, nine out of 
ten patients recover. 

Otherwise, this ratio is just reversed ; and in the working classes — 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. d^^ 

especially strangers — to take the fever, in bad years, is to die. The 
utmost efforts of science, the most potent drugs — even the beautiful 
and selfless devotion of the "Howard Association" and its like — 
availed nothing in the wrestle with the grim destroyer, when he had 
once fairly clutched his hold. And in the crowded quarters, where 
the air was poison without the malaria, his footing was too sure for 
mortal to prevail against him. 

New Orleans was, at this time, divided into tv/o distinct towns in 
one corporation — the French and American. In the one, the French 
language was spoken altogether for social and business purposes, and 
even in the courts. The theaters were French, the cafes innocent of 
English, and, as Hood says, the "very children speak it." Many 
persons grow up in this quarter — or did in years back — who never, to 
their old age, crossed to the American town or spoke one word of 
English. In the society of the old town, one found a miniature — 
exact to the photograph — of Paris. It was jealously exclusive, and 
even the most petted beaux of the American quarter deemed it 
privilege to enter it. A stranger must come with letters of the most 
urgent kind before he could cross its threshold. All the etiquette 
and form of the ancien regime obtained here — the furniture, the dress, 
the cookery, the dances were all French. 

In the American town the likeness to Mobile was very marked, in 
the manners and style of the people. The young men of the French 
quarter had sought this society more of late years, finding in it a 
freedom from restraint, for which their associations with other 
Americans in business gave them a taste. The character of the 
society was gay and easy — and it was not hedged in so carefully as 
that of the old town. Strangers were cordially — if not very care- 
fully — welcomed into it ; and the barriers of reserve, that once pro- 
tected it, were rapidly breaking down before the inroads of progress 
and petroleum. 

The great hotels— the "St. Charles," "St. Louis" and others- 
were constantly filled with the families of planters from all points of 
the river and its branches, and with travelers from the Atlantic 
border as well. Many of these were people of cultivation and re- 
finement; but many, alas! the roughest of diamonds with a western 
freedom of expression and solidity of outline, that is national but 
not agreeable. In the season thes€ people overflowed the hotels, 



64 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

where they had constant hops with, occasionally, splendid balls and 
even masques. Many of them were "objects of interest" to the 
young men about town, by reason of papa's business, or Mademoi- 
selle's proper bank account. So the hotels— though not frequented 
by the ladies of the city at all — became, each year, more and more 
thronged by the young men ; and consequently, each year, the out- 
siders gained a very gradual, but more secure, footing near the home 
society and even began to force their way into it. 

It must be confessed that some damsels from Red River wore 
diamonds at breakfast; and that young ladies from Ohio would drive 
tandem to the lake ! And then their laughs and jokes at a soiree 
would give a dowager from Frenchtown an apoplexy ! 

Qiievoitlez vous? Pork is mighty ! and cotton was king! 

There was much difference of opinion as to the morals of the 
Crescent City. For my own part, I do not think the men were more 
dissipated than elsewhere, though infinitely more wedded to enjoy- 
ment and fun in every form. There was the French idea prevalent 
that gambling was no harm ; and it was indulged to a degree cer- 
tainly hurtful to many and ruinous to some. From the climate and 
the great prevalence of light wines, there was less drunkenness than 
in most southern towns; and if other vices prevailed to any great 
extent — they were either gracefully hidden, or so sanctioned by cus- 
tom as to cause no remark, except by straight-laced strangers. 

Oh ! the delicious memories of the city of old ! The charming 
cordiality to be found in no colder latitude, the cosy breakfasts that 
prefaced days of real enjoyment — the midnight revels of the bal 
masque! And then the carnival! — those wild weeks when the 
Lord of Misrule wields his motley scepter — leading from one reckless 
frolic to another till Mardi Gras culminates in a giddy whirl of 
delirious fun on which, at midnight. Lent drops a somber veil ! 

Sad changes the war has wrought since then ! 

The merry " Krewe of Comus" has been for a time replaced by 
the conquering troops of the Union ; the salons where only the best 
and brightest had collected have been sullied by a conquering soldiery; 
and their leader has waged a vulgar warfare on the noble woman- 
hood his currish spirit could not gaze upon without a fruitless effort 
to degrade. 

Of the resident ladies, I can only say that to hear of a fast one — 
in ordinary acceptation of that term — was, indeed, rare. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 65 

The young married woman monopolized more of the society and 
its beaux than would be very agreeable to New York belles; but, if 
they borrowed this custom from their French neighbors, I have not 
heard that they also took the license of the Italian. 

Public and open improprieties were at once frowned down, and 
people of all grades and classes seemed to make their chief study 
good taste. This is another French graft, on a stem naturally sus- 
ceptible, of which the consequences can be seen from the hair ribbon 
of the bonne to the decoration of the Cathedral. 

The women of New Orleans, as a rule, dress with more taste — 
more perfect adaptation of form and color to figure and complexion — 
than any in America. On a dress night at the opera, at church, or 
at a ball, the toillettes are a perfect study in their exquisite fitness — 
their admirable blending of simplicity and elegance. Nor is this 
confined to the higher and more wealthy classes. The women of 
lower conditions are admirably imitative; and on Sunday afternoons, 
where they crowd to hear the public bands with husbands and chil- 
dren, all in their best, it is the rarest thmg to see a badly-trimmed 
bonnet or an ill-chosen costume. The men, in those days, dressed 
altogether in the French fashion; and were, consequently, the worst 
dressed in the world. 

The most independent and obtrusively happy people one noticed 
in New Orleans were the negroes. They have a sleek, shiny black- 
ness here, unknown to higher latitudes ; and from its midst the great 
white eyeballs and large, regular teeth flash with a singular brilliance. 
Sunday is their day peculiarly — and on the warm afternoons, they 
bask up and down the thoroughfares in the gaudiest of orange and 
scarlet bandannas. But their day is fast passing away ; and in place 
of the simple, happy creatures of a few years gone, we find the dis- 
contented and besotted idler — squalid a:nd dirty. 

The cant of to-day — that the race problem, if left alone, will settle 
itself — may have some possible proof in the distant future ; but the 
few who are ignorant enough to-day to believe the " negro question " 
already settled may find that they are yet but on the threshold of 
the "irrepressible conflict" between nature and necessity. 

To the natural impressibility of the southron, the Louisianian adds: 
the enthusiasm of the Frenchman. At the first call of the governor 
for troops, there had been readiest response ; and here, as in Ala- 



66 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

bama, the very first young men of the state left office and counting- 
room and college to take up the musket. Two regiments of regulars, 
in the state service, were raised to man the forts — "Jackson" and 
"St. Philip" — that guarded the passes below the city. These were 
composed of the stevedores and workingmen generally, and were 
officered by such young men as the governor and council deemed best 
fitted. The Levee had been scoured and a battalion of "Tigers" 
formed from the very lowest of the thugs and plugs that infested it, 
for Major Bob Wheat, the well-known filibuster. 

Poor Wheat! His roving spirit still and his jocund voice now 
mute, he sleeps soundly under the sighing trees of Hollywood — that 
populous "city of the silent" at Richmond. It was his corps of 
which such wild and ridiculous stories of bowie-knife prowess were 
told at the Bull Run fight. They, together with the "Crescent 
Rifles," " Chasseurs-a-pied " and "Zouaves," were now at Pensacola. 

The "Rifles" Avas a crack corps, composed of some of the best 
young men in New Orleans; and the whole corps of "Chasseurs" 
was of the same material. They did yeomen's service in the four 
years, and the last one saw very few left of what had long since 
ceased to be a separate organization. But of all the gallant blood 
that was shed at the call of the state, none was so widely known as 
the "Washington Artillery." The best men of Louisiana had long 
upheld and officered this battalion as a holiday pageant; and, when 
their merry meetings were so suddenly changed to stern alarums, to 
their honor be it said, not one was laggard. 

In the reddest flashings of the fight, on the dreariest march 
through heaviest snows, or in the cozy camp under the summer 
pines, the guidon of the " W. A." was a welcome sight to the soldier 
of the South — always indicative of cheer and of duty willingly and 
thoroughly done. 

It was very unwillingly that I left New Orleans on a transport, 
with a battalion of Chasseurs for Pensacola. Styles was to stay 
behind for the present, and then go on some general's staff; so half 
the amusement of my travel was gone. "The colonel" was desole. 

^^Snch a hotel as the St. Charles!" he exclaimed, with tears in his 
voice — "such soups. Ah! my boy, after the war I'll come here to 
live — yes, sir, to live ! It's the only place to get a dinner. Egad, 
sir, out of New Orleans nobody cooks ! " 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 67 

I suggested comfort in the idea of red snapper at Pensacola. 

" Red fish is good in itself. Egad, I think it is good," replied the 
colonel. " But eaten in camp, with a knife, sir — egad, with a 
knife — off a tin plate ! Pah! You've never lived in camp." And 
in a hollow, oracular whisper, he added: "Wait!" 

And they were real models, the New Orleans hotels of those days, 
and the colonel's commendations were but deserved. In cuisine, 
service and wines, they far surpassed any on this continent ; and for 
variety of patrons they were unequaled anywhere. 

Two distinct sets inhabited the larger ones, as antagonistic as oil 
and water. The habitues, easy, critical to a degree, and particular to 
a year about their wines, lived on comfortably and evenly, enjoying 
the very best of the luxurious city, and never having a cause for 
complaint. The up-river people flocked in at certain seasons by the 
hundred. They crowded the lobbies, filled the spare bed-rooms, 
and eat what was put before them, with but little knowledge save that 
it was French. These were the business men, who came down for a 
new engagement with a factor, or to rest after the summer on the 
plantation. One-half of them were terribly busy; the other half 
having nothing to do after th« first day — they always stay a week — 
and assuming an air of high criticism that was as funny to the knowing 
ones as expensive to them. 

At our hotel, one evening, as favored guests, we found ourselves 
on an exploring tour with mine host. It ended in the wine-room. 

The mysteries of that vaulted chamber were seldom opened to the 
outer world; and passing the profamtm vulgus in its first bins, we 
listened with eager ears and watering mouths to recital of the pedi- 
gree and history of the dwellers within. 

Long rows of graceful necks, golden crowned and tall, peered 
over dust and cobwebs of near a generation ; bottles aldermanic and 
plethoric seemed bursting with the hoarded fatness of the vine; 
clear, white glass burned a glowing ruby with the Burgundy; and 
lean, jaundiced bottles — carefully bedded like rows of invalids — told 
of rare and priceless Hocks. 

From arch to arch our garrulous cicerofie leads us, with a heightened 
relish as we get deeper among his treasures and further away from the 
daylight. 

"There!" he exclaims at last with a great gulp of triumph. 



6S Four Wars in Kcbc/ Capitals. 

"There! that's Sherry, the king of wines! Ninety years ago, the 
Conde Pesara sent that wine in his own ships. Ninety years ago — 
and for twenty it has lain in my cellar, never touched but by my own 
hand " — and he holds up the candle to the shelf, inch deep in dust, 
while the light seems to dart into the very heart of the amber fluid, 
and sparkle and laugh back again from the fantastic drapery the 
spiders had festooned around the bottles. "Yes, all the Pesaras are 
dead years gone; and only this blood of the vine is left of them." 

"But you don't sell that wine!" gasps the colonel. "Egad! 
you don't sell it to those — people — up stairs ! " 

" I did once" — and mine host sighs. " A great cotton man came 
down. He was a king on the river — he wanted the best ! Money 
was nothing to him, so I whispered of this, and said twenty dollars 
the bottle! And, Colonel, he didn't like itT' 

" Merciful heaven ! " the colonel waxes wroth. 

" So Francois there sent him a bottle of that Xeres in the outer bin 
yonder — we sell it to you for two dollars the bottle — and he said that 
was wine ! " 

But of the other family — who live in an American hurry and eat 
by steam — was the goblin diner of whom a friend told me in accents 
of awe. One day, at the St. Charles, a resident stopped him on the 
way to their accustomed table : 

"Have you seen these people eat?" he asked. "No? Then 
we'll stop and look. This table is reserved for the up-river men who 
have little time in the city and make the most of it. While they 
swallow soup, a nimble waiter piles the nearest dishes around them, 
without regard to order or quality. They eat fish, roast and fried, on 
the same plate, swallowing six inches of knife blade at every bolt. 
Then they draw the nearest pie to them, cut a great segment in it, 
make three huge arcs therein with as many snaps of their teeth; 
seize a handful of nuts and raisins and rush away, with jaws still 
workmg like a flouring-mill. Ten minutes is their limit for din- 
ner." My friend only smiled. The other adding: 

"You doubt it? Here comes a fine specimen; hot, healthy and 
evidently busy. See, he looks at his watch ! I'll bet you a bottle of" 
St. Peray he 'does' his dinner within the ten." 

" Done" — and they sat opposite him, watch in hand. 

And that wonderful Hoosier dined in seven minutes ! 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 69 



CHAPTER IX. 

A CHANGE OF BASE. 

Whatever activity and energetic preparation there may have been 
elsewhere, Pensacola was the first organized camp in the South. 
General Bragg and his adjutant-general were both old officers, and 
in the face of the enemy the utmost rigor of discipline prevailed. 
There had been no active operations on this line, yet; but the Ala- 
bama and Louisiana troops collected — to the number of about nine 
thousand — had already become soldiers, in all the details of camp 
life; and went through it in as cheerful a spirit as if they had been 
born there. 

In popular view, both Bragg and Beauregard were on probation as 
yet; and it was thought that upon the management of their respective 
operations depended their status in the regular army. All was activ- 
ity, drill and practice in this camp; and if the army of Pensacola was 
not a perfectly-disciplined one, the fault certainly was not with its 
general. 

The day we reached camp the President and Secretary of the 
Navy came down from Montgomery on a special train for an inspec- 
tion. They were accompanied only by one or two officers, and had 
a long and earnest conference with General Bragg at his headquar- 
ters. After that there was a review of the army ; and the then novel 
sight was made peculiarly effective by surroundings. 

On the level, white beach, glistening in the afternoon sun, were 
drawn up the best volunteer organizations of the South — line upon 
line, as far as eye could reach — their bright uniforms, glancing mus- 
kets and waving banners giving color to the view. Far in the rear 
the fringed woods made dim background ; while between, regular 
rows of white tents — laid out in regiments and company streets — 
dotted the plain. 

Out in the foreground stretched the blue waters of Pensacola har- 
bor — the sun lighting up the occasional foam-crests into evanescent 
diamonds — the grim fortress frowning darkly on the rebellious dis- 



70 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

play, while a full band on the parapet played the "Star Spangled 
Banner." Over to the left, half hidden under the rolling sand hills, 
stood Pensacola, with the navy yard and hospitals ; and yellow little 
Fort McRea, saucy and rebellious, balanced it on the extreme right. 

As the President, with the general and his staff, galloped down 
the line, the band of each regiment struck up ; and the wildest huz- 
zas — not even restrained by the presence of their "incarnate disci- 
pline " — told how firm a hold Mr. Davis had taken upon the hearts 
of the army. 

By the time the review was over twilight had fallen; and a thou- 
sand camp-fires sprang up among the tents, with flickering, uncertain 
light. In it sat groups preparing their suppers and discussing what 
the visit and review might mean. Some said it was for the secretary 
to inspect the navy yard ; some to examine into the defenses of the 
fort; and some said that it meant scaling ladders and a midnight 
assault. 

That night we had a jolly time of it in an Alabama captain's tent — 
with songs, cards and whisky punch, such as only "Mac" could 
brew. Even "the colonel " confessed himself beaten at his great 
trick ; and in compliment drank tumbler after tumbler. As we walked 
over to our tent in the early mist before dawn, he said : 

"Egad! there's mischief brewing — mischief, sir! The seat of 
war's to be removed to Virginia and the capital to Richmond!" 

I stopped and looked at the colonel. Was it the punch ? 

"That's what the council this evening meant? " 

"Just so. Bragg remains, but part of his garrison goes to Beau- 
reo-ard, in Virginia. Trains to Montgomery will be jammed now. so 
we'd better be off. And, egad, sir ! I'm to get ready for the field. 
Yes, sir, for the field !" 

Next morning the information that had filtered to me through the 
colonel's punch was announced in orders, and enthusiastic cheers 
greeted the news that some of the troops were to go to a field prom- 
ising active service and speedily at that. 

The routine of camp life had already begun to pall upon the better 
class of men, and all were equally anxious to go where they could 
prove more clearly how ready they were to do their devoir. 

Some Alabamians, two Georgia regiments, the Chasseurs-a-pied, 
the "Tigers" and the Zouaves were to go to Virginia; and through 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 71 

the courtesy of the officers of the latter corps, we got seats to Mont- 
gomery in their car; two days later. 

Meantime, all was hum and bustle through the whole camp, and 
as the limited rolling stock on the still unfinished railroad could only 
accommodate a regiment at a time, they left at all hours of the day, 
or night, that the trains arrived. Constantly at midnight the dull 
tramp of marching men and the slow tap of the drum, passing our 
quarters, roused us from sleep ; and whatever the hour, the departing 
troops v/ere escorted to the station by crowds of half-envious com- 
rades, who "were left out in the cold." And as the trains started — 
box cars, flats and tenders all crowded, inside and out — yell after 
yell went up in stentorian chorus, echoing through the still woods, in 

place of 

"That sweet old word, good-bye!" 

One gray dawn, six hundred Zouaves filed out of the pines and 
got aboard our train. They were a splendid set of animals; medium 
sized, sunburnt, muscular and v/iry as Arabs; and a long, swingy gait 
told of drill and endurance. But the faces were dull and brutish, 
generally; and some of them would vie, for cunning villainy, with 
the features of the prettiest Turcos that Algeria could produce. 

The uniform was very picturesque and very — dirty. Full, baggy, 
scarlet trowsers, confined round the waist by the broad, blue band or 
sash, bearing the bowie-knife and meeting, at mid-leg, the white 
gaiter; blue shirt cut very low and exhibiting the brawny, sunburnt 
tliroat ; jacket heavily braided and embroidered, flying loosely ofF the 
shoulders, and the jaunty fez, surmounting the whole, made a bright 
ensemble that contrasted prettily with the gray and silver of the South 
Carolinians, or the rusty brown of the Georgians, who came in 
crowds to see them off. 

But the use of these uniforms about the grease and dust of Pensa- 
cola camp-fires had left marks that these soldiers considered badges 
of honor, not to be removed. 

Nor were they purer morally. Graduates of the slums of New 
Orleans, their education in villainy was naturally perfect. They had 
the vaguest ideas of meum and tuu?n ; and small personal difficulties 
were usually settled by the convincing argument of a bowie-knife, or 
brass knuckle. 

Yet they had been brought to a very perfect state of drill and ef- 



72 J'\->ii> )'(ivs in K(i>tl Capi/ols. 

ficiency. All commands were given in French — the native tongue of 
nearly all the oflicers and most of the men ; and, in cases of insubor- 
dination, the former had no hesitancy in a free use of the revolver. A 
Avonderful jieacemaker is your six-shooter. 

Tliey miglil be splendid fellows for a charge on the " Pet Lambs," 
or on a — pocket ; but. on the whole, were hardly the men one would 
choose i\ir partners in any business but a garroting firm, or would de- 
sire to have sleep in the company bedroom. 

Their oflicers we found of a class entirely above them ; active, 
bright, enthusiastic Frenchmen, with a frank courtesy and soldierly 
bearing that were very taking. They occupied the rear car of the 
train, while the men fdled the forward ones, making the woods ring 
with their wild yells, and the roaring chorus of the song of the Zou-Zou. 

We had crossed the gap at (>arland, where the road was yet un- 
finished, and were soon at the breakfast house, where we mounted 
the hill in a body; leaving our car jierfectly empty, save a couple of 
buglers who stood on the platform. As I looked back, the elder 
musician was a most perfect picture of the Turco. He had served in 
Algiers, and after the war in Italy brought a bullet in his leg to New 
Orleans, lie was long past fifty — spare, broad-shouldered and hard 
as a log of oak. His shar]"t features were bronzed to the richest ma- 
hogany color, and garnished with a moustache and peak of grizzled 
hair **a cubit and a span" — or nearl)' — in length. And the short, 
gri/zled hair had been shaved far back from his jirominent temples, 
giving a sinister and grotesque effect to his naturally hard face. Turc 
was a flivorite with the officers, and his dress was rather cleaner than 
that of the others ; a diflerence that was hardly an improvement. 

We were just seated at breakfist — and having a special train we 
took oin- time — when a wild scream of the whistle, succeeded imme- 
diately by the heavy rumble of cars, came up the hill. We rushed 
to the windows, just in time to see a column o{ smoke disappearing 
round the curve and the oflicers' car standing solitary and empty 
on the road. 

The 7,ouaves had run away with the train! 

The language the oflicers used, as we surromided the " sole sur- 
vivors'' — the two buglers — was, at least, strong; and short, hard 
words not in the church service dropped frequently from their lij^s. 

It was no use; the train had gone and tlie men with it. and the 



Four Years in Rebel Capilab, 73 

best we could do was to speculate on the intention of the runaways, 
while wc wailed the result of the telegrams sent to both ends of the 
line for anotlier engine. At last it came puffing up, and we whirled 
at its full speed into Montgomery. 

Meanwhile tlie Zou-Zous had several hours' start. Led by one 
ardent spirit — whose motto had been siniilia svnilibus, until he lost 
his balance of mind — they had uncoupled the officers' car and forced 
the engineers to take them on. On arriving at Montgomery, they 
wandered over the town, "going through " drinking-houses until they 
became wild with lif|iior; then bursting open the groceries to get 
whisky, threatening the citizens and even entering private houses. The 
alarm became so great, as the Zouaves became more maddened, that 
the first CJeorgia regiment was ordered out and stationed by platoons, 
with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, across the streets where tlie 
rioters were. Serious trouble was beginning, when the car with their 
officers dashed into the de])Ot. 

The charge of the Light Brigade was surpassed by those irate 
Creoles. With the cars still in rajjid motion, they leaped off, revolver 
in hand; and charged into the quarter where their drunken men were 
still engaged in every sort of exce.ss. The old bugler still trotted at 
their head, his black eyes gleaming at the prospect of the row, and 
his bugle occasionally raised to sound the "rally." Into the miflst 
of the drunken and yelling crowd dashed the officers; crackling 
French oaths rolling over their tongues with a snapping intonation, 
and their pistols whirling right and left like .slung-shot, and dropping 
a mutineer at every blow. Habit and the rough usage overcame even 
the drunken frenzy of the men, and they droj;ped the plunder from 
their arms, snatched muskets from the corners they had been whirled 
into, and rapidly dressed into line in the street. 

I saw one beardless boy, slight and small, rush to a huge sergeant 
and order him into ranks. The soldier, a perfect giant, hesitated to 
drop the handful of shoes he had seized, only for a second. But that 
was enough. The youth had to jump from the ground to seize his 
throat; but, at the same moment, the stock of the lieavy revolver 
crashed over his temple, and he fell like a stricken ox. 

" Roll that carrion into the street!" said the lieutenant to another 
soldier near; and before his order was obeyed the store was empty. 

In a half hour from the officers' arrival the battalion was mustered 



74 Four Yiars in Rebel Capitals. 

on Main street, and only nine absentees were reported at roll-call ; 
but many a fez was drawn far down over a bleeding forehead, and 
many a villainous countenance was lighted by one eye, while the 
other was closed and swollen. 

The colonel and I had jumped fiom the car and run on with our 
French friends ; but the colonel was not the son of Atalanta, and by 
reason of a soupion of gout his feet were not beautiful upon Zion 
or any other place. Neither could he make them "swift to shed 
blood." 

As we entered the street where the rioters were, I turned and 
saw him, perfectly breathless, bear his two hundred and fifty pounds 
avoirdupois against a door. It was not closed, but had only been 
slammed by the score of Zou-Zous enjoying the whisky within ; and 
as I looked I saw a dignified colonel in the C. S. army turn a com- 
plete somersault into a group of red-legged devils, who immediately 
closed around him. 

Gabriel Ravel, though a lighter man, never made a cleaner leap 
through the third story in the side-scene ; but there was no time to 
waste and 1 went back at speed. I had scarcely turned when I saw 
the colonel's huge form tower among the red-legs. Ey the time I 
reached the door my apparition, revolver in hand, comjileted what 
he had begun ; and they slipped by and vanished. 

Luckily the bar of the door had fallen with him, and the old gym- 
nastics of other days coming back like a tlash. he had seized it, made 
two rapid blows and laid as many of his assailants at his feet; roaring, 
meanwhile, oaths as thunderous as they were unintelligible. 

''Sacte-e nom!'' he shouted as he saw me; " shoot 'em, me boy! 
Poltrofis, e'^o.^W Laugh at me! D — n their eyes ! Can-n-nailk !'' 

There was a wicked light in my fat friend's eye, and he had 
recovered his second wind ; so we sallied out. the colonel still clinging 
to his weapon of chance. 

"Good enough for these dogs!" he roared, wrathfully shaking 
the bar. " Saves the pistol." 

That night at " the Ranche," as later about many a camp-fire, our 
French visitors declared that the colonel's bar had done more effect- 
ive service than their revolvers ; and, as it stood dented and blood- 
smeared in the corner of that vine-clad porch, it did not belie their 
praise. 



]^our Years in Rebel Capitals. 75 



CHAPTER X. 



EN ROUTE FOR THE BORDER. 



Very soon after their state went out of the Union, and it became 
settled that the policy of the central Government was to take posses- 
sion of the border states by force, the people of Virginia decided that 
the battle was to be fought on her soil. Her nearness to Washing- 
ton, the facility of land communication, and the availabilty of her 
waterways for transportation purposes, all pointed to this ; and the 
southern Government also became aware that the Potomac boundary 
of the Confederacy was the one to be most jealously guarded. 
Under these circumstances, when the tender of the use of the state 
capital at Richmond was made to the Montgomery Government, the 
advantages of the move were at once apparent, and the proffer was 
promptly accepted. 

When we returned to Montgomery, preparations for removal 
were in such state of progress that the change would be made in a 
few days. Archives and public property not in daily use had already 
been sent on, and some of the force of the executive departments were 
already in the new capital, preparing for the reception of the remain- 
der. Troops in large bodies had already been forwarded to Virginia 
from all parts of the South, and all indications were that, before the 
summer was over, an active campaign on the soil of the Old Domin- 
ion would be in progress. 

About this time, a telegram from Montgomery appeared in the New 
York Tribune, which created as much comment at the South as at the 
North. It stated, in so many words, that the whole South was in mo- 
tion ; that a few days would see Mr. Davis in Virginia at the head of 
thirty thousand men, Beauregard second in command. With the two 
sections in a state of open hostility, and with armies already in the 
field and manceuvering for position, it was somewhat singular that the 
avowed correspondent of a northern journal should ])e allowed in the 
southern Capital ; but, when his dispatches bore on their face some 
signs of authoritative sanction, it became stranger still. 



76 Four Years i)i RcOc/ Copita/s. 

The correspondciU of the Trihiiuc was a well-known lobby mem- 
ber of years standing, but avowedly a southern man. Mis intercourse 
with the leaders of the government was, at least, friendly, and his 
predictions and assertions in the columns of tliat newspaper were 
generally borne out in fact. The state of the country was an anoma- 
lous one, but this method of waging war was still more so. 

The history of the dispatch in question was simply this : There 
had been much jubilation in Montgomery over the news from Vir- 
ginia. Serenades had been made, speeches delivered, and the 
invariable whisky had not been neglected. 

Late at night, I was shown a copy of this dispatch, as one about 
to be sent. On my doubting it, 1 was credibly informed that it had 
been shown to at least one cabinet otiticer, and received his ap- 
proval. And it went! 

When it was finally settled that the Capital was to be moved to 
Virginia, the city of Montgomery began to wail. It had all along 
been utterly and most emphatically opposed to the location of the 
government there. It would ruin the trade, the morals and the 
reputation of the town. Dowagers had avowed their belief that the 
continuance of the Congress there for one year would render the 
city as perfect a Sodom as Washington — would demoralize the society 
beyond purification. 

Men of business had. grumbled at being disturbed from their fixed 
routine of many years. But now that the incubus was to be re- 
moved, there was a strong pressure to prevent — and bitter denunci- 
ations of — the outrage! 

Leaders came out in the jiapers, advising against the practicability; 
scathing articles about perfidy sometimes appeared ; and it was, on 
all hands, ]irophcsied that the government would lose caste and dig- 
nity, and become a traveling caravan if the change were made. 
Where will the nations of Europe find it when they send their min- 
isters to recognize the Confederate Government? — was the peroration 
of these eloquent advocates. 

Now, as there was no contract made or implied, in locating the 
provisional government at Montgomery, that it was to be the per- 
manent Capital ; or that the exigencies of the war might not necessi- 
tate a change to some point more available, this was at least unnec- 
essary. True, the people had niade sacrifices, and had inconveni- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 11 

enced themselves. But what they had done was for the country, 
and not for the Government; and had, besides, been done equally 
elsewhere. And the location, even temporarily, of the Government 
there had aided the town greatly. It had become the converging 
point of railroad and contract business for the Confederacy; and the 
depots and storehouses located there would be of course continued, 
throwing a vast amount of business activity and money into it. So, 
though the people might be somewhat morbid on the subject, their 
arguments against the change were, on the whole, if natural, not 
founded on fact. 

But, perfectly regardless of the thunders of the press and the 
growlings of the people, the preparations for removal and the change 
of base to Virginia went steadily on. By the 20th of May, every- 
thing had been completed — the President and Cabinet left Mont- 
gomery — the fact, that had for some time been a real one, was for- 
mally consummated ; and Montgomery became again the Capital of 
Alabama. 

I had nothing to keep me in town longer, so I started for a 
leisurely trip to Richmond. But man proposes; and in this instancCj 
the Quartermaster's Department disposed that travel was to be any- 
thing but practicable. 

Trains, crowded with troops from all directions, met at the junc- 
tions, and there had to lay over for hours, or days. Burden trains, 
with supplies for the army, munitions of war, or government prop- 
erty from Montgomery, blocked the road in all directions ; and 
trains running "not on time" had to proceed much more carefully 
than ordinarily. In fact, there was not the amount of transporta- 
tion at the disposal of the roads that the greatly enhanced demands 
required; and at every station nearer Richmond, the pressure of 
passengers and freight became greater. 

Through Georgia I bore the troubles of the transit like a philoso- 
pher; but under three detentions between Augusta and Columbia, 
of from nine to thirteen hours, patience and endurance both gave 
way. 

South Carolina had gone into the war with her eyes wider open than 
those of her sisters ; and while she had yet time, was straining every 
nerve to utilize all her available resources and to make new ones. 
Her factories, tanneries and foundries were all in constant and active 
operation ; she was making bountiful preparation for the future. 



TS Four Years in Ribcl Capitals. 

Everywhere in the South was earnest endeavor and heartfelt 
enthusiasm for the cause ; but I saw it nowhere directed into such 
jiractical and productive channels, thus early, as in South Carolina. 
Charleston, Pensacola and Virginia had drained her of younger and 
more active men ; but the older ones and her vast resources of sla\ e 
labor made up for the loss, and neither time nor energy seemed to 
be misapplied. 

After a rest, I found a freight train with a philanthropic conductor, 
and started for Kingsville. We I litis! 

I reached that station — what a misnomer ! — in a driving mist and 
a very bad humor. Neillior was a fine preparation for the news that 
a train had smashed seventeen miles above, tearing up the track and 
effectually blocking the road. The down train, with which we were 
to connect, could not come through ; not a car was visible ; no one 
knew when we could get off, and the engine we had left was just 
disappearing around a curve — Charlestonward. 

One hopeful individual ventured a mild suggcBtion that we should 
have to stay all night. He weighed a hundred and eighty pounds, 
at least — not a fraction less — so I remained passive ; but ten pounds 
subtracted from his avoirdupois would have brought him a black eye. 
Stay all night ! The idea was an ague ! 

Kingsville was a splendid aggregation of one house and a long 
platform. The town — /. e., the house — had, even in palmy days, 
been remarkable on the road for great dirt, wretched breakfasts and 
worse whisky. You entered at one door, grabbed a biscuit and a 
piece of bacon and rushed out at the other ; or you got an awful 
decoction of brown sugar and turj^entine in a green tumbler. Con- 
stant travel and crowds of passing soldiers had not improved it in 
any particular. The very looks of the jilace were repugnant enough 

in the daytime, but 

" l?oUl was he who hither came 
At midnight — man or boy!_" 

I felt that a night in the rain under the pines, with my bag for a 
pillow, would be endurable ; but no mortal with a white skin could 
dare those bloated and odorous feather-beds, where other things — in 
the shape of mordants, vivacious, active and gigantic — besides 
" Wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleeper." 

To mend matters, Gartrell's regiment of Georgians, eight hundred 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 79 

and fifty strong, and three other companies of Georgians from Pen- 
sacola, had been left here to meet a way-train, which faihng, they 
bivouacked by the roadside. In all there were over eleven hundred 
tobacco-and-gin redolences, remarkably quiet for them; shooting at 
a mark, going through squad drill, drinking bad liquor by the canteen 
and swearing in a way that would have made the "Army in Flanders" 
sick with envy. 

In the latter amusement I joined internally; and it did me so much 
good that I bought the anti-administration newspaper of Charleston 
and, getting out of bullet range, put my back against a tree and tried 
to read. Mercury was ever a blithe and sportive god, and his gam- 
bols on Mount 01ymi)us were noted in days of yore ; but the modern 
namesake — or else my present position — had soporific tendencies ; and 
fear of the target shooters growing dimmer and dimmer, I lost myself 
in sleep. 

It was near sundown when I was awakened by the snort of a loco- 
motive, and a freight trvin hove in sight. The drums rolled, the 
troops formed in line, each one packing his household on his back as 
he trotted along ; and, as the cars backed up, the men broke ranks 
and jumped aboard, filling every crack and corner, and seeming to 
pile on top of each other. 

A berth there was utterly impracticable to any man with any of 
his senses in active operation. That squirming, dense mass of 
humanity was more than the oldest traveler could stand, and I gave 
up my place in the rush. Luckily, there was an express car along, 
and I found the agent. He was very busy; and elo(|uence worthy of 
Gough, or Cicero, or Charles .Sumner got no satisfaction. Desperation 
suggested a masonic signal, with the neck of a black bottle protrud- 
ing from my bag. The man of parcels melted and invoked terrible 
torments on the immortal part of him if he didn't let me " g'long wi' 
the 'spress," as he styled that means of locomotion. 

The accommodation was not princely — six feet by ten, cumbered 
with packages of all shapes and sizes and strongly flavored with 
bacon and pipe. Yet, "not for gold or precious stones" would I 
have exchanged that redolent corner. The agent v/axed more and 
more polite as the bottle emptied, regretted the want of room, 
regaled himself with frequent "nips," and me with anecdotes of a 
professional nature. 



8o Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

From liim was learned that he was witli the train that had carried 
my old friends, the Zouaves, to their fresh fields of glory in Virginia. 
They retained a lively recollection of their lesson at Montgomery, 
and had kept rather quiet till reaching Columbia. There the devil 
again got unchained among them, and they broke out in a style to 
make up for their enforced good behavior. 

" Sich a shooting of cattle and poultry, sich a yelling and singing 
of ther darned frenchy stuff — sich a rolling of drums and a damning 
of officers, I ain't hear yit " — said the agent. "And they docs ride 
more on the outside of the cars than the inside, anyhow." 

Beyond Weldon a knot were balancing themselves on the connect- 
ing beams of the box-cars. Warned by their officers, they laughed ; 
begged by the conductors, they swore. Suddenly there was a jolt, 
the headway of the cars jammed them together, and three red-legged 
gentlemen were mashed between them — flat as Ravel in the panto- 
mime. 

"And I'm jest a-thinkin'," was his peroration, " ef this yere reege- 
ment don't stop a-fightin' together, being shot by the Georgians and 
beat by their ofiicers — not to mention a jammin' up on railroads — 
they're gwine to do darned leetle sarvice a-fightin' of Yanks! " 

After this period the agent talked, first to himself and then to the 
black bottle ; while I, seated on a box of cartridges, lit my pipe and 
went into a reverie as to the treatment the surgeons would use in the 
pneumonia sure to result from the leaks in the car. 

In the midst of an active course of turpentine and stimulants, I 
Avas brought to myself by a jolt and dead halt in mid road. The 
engine had blown off a nut, and here we were, dead lame, six miles 
from a station and no chance of getting on. 

My Express friend advised very quietly to "quit this and walk 
enter Florence." 

"'Taint but a small tramp after all," he said. "And ye'll jest 
catch the A. M. up train and miss the sojers. Jest hand this yere to 
the A. <S: Co.'s agent, and he'll help yer ef she's crowded. Here's 
luck ! " and he took a long pull at the bottle and handed it back- 
rather regretfully — with a dingy note on the back of an Express 
receipt. 

For the benefit of literature in ages yet unborn, I give a careful 
transcription of this docmiient : 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 81 

"■Deer bil this gentilman Is a verry peer tic idar f rend of mine — also 
My brother-en-la7V. And you must give him sum Help ef he needs any 
cos Our engen she's run of the track And I won't be long afore to morrer. 

" Yours trezoly, Grimes." 

Thus armed, I shouldered my bag and started on my tramp over 
the wet and slippery track, reaching Florence at gray dawn. As I 
came in sight, there stood the train, the engines cold and fires unlit. 
I had full time, but my good luck — the first since I started — put me 
in a glow, and I stepped out in a juvenile pace that would have done 
credit to "the Boy" in training days. As I came nearer, my mercury 
went rapidly down to zero. Every car was jammed, aisles packed and 
box-cars crowded even on top. The doorways and platforms were 
filled with long rows of gray blankets that smelt suggestively human! 
Crowds of detained passengers and three companies of the "Crescent 
Guard" had taken their places at midnight, and slept with a peace- 
fulness perfectly aggravating. As I walked ruefully by the windows, 
there was no hope ! Every seat was filled, and every passenger slept 
the sleep of the just ; and their mixed and volleyed snoring came 
through, 

" Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Runic rhyme." 

There was no sort of use. I'd have to try the Express, and deep 
was my chuckle as I reread my friend Grimes' remarkable produc- 
tion. It would be an oasis in this desert — that Express car; but lo! 
when I went to look for it there was none on the train ! 

Dead beat I sat on the platform and awaited day. When a fire- 
man began operations on the engine, I meekly queried where the 
Express was. 

" Re n't none," was the surly rejoinder. 

I was wet and tired and generally bewildered. Was it a wonder 
that I then and there swore at that fireman, as only meek and long- 
suffering men, when aroused, can swear? The volley was effective, 
however, and he very politely told me the agent would "be roun'" 
before the train started. Presently he pointed out the desired indi- 
vidual, to whom I hastened to hand my note. Now the terrible de- 
nunciations my former friend had made on his own soul were as 
nothing to what the present representative of .^dams & Co. called 
down upon his own and everybody else's immortal function. 
6 



82 Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

" Well, I hope to be eternally by ! But it ain't no 

use ! my soul, ef yer shan't ride somehow ! " remarked 

this profane expressman. "Yer be Hector Grimes' brother, and 

by ! go yer shell ! Yer married his sister Cynthy — the one as 

squints ? Why me ! I knowed her when she wasn't knee 

high — and yer done well, by ! Here, Potty!" and 

he addressed a greasy man just mounting the mail car — " Here be 

Grimes' brother, as must git to Weldon, by ! So hist him 

along, will yer ?" 

" O. K. Jump in, Mr. Grimes," agreed the mail agent; and by 
this time I was so wet and disgusted I didn't care who I was. So in 
I went, playing Grimes " for this night only." 

" Here's luck. Potty! may me, but I'm glad I met yer, 

Grimes," remarked my profane friend, taking a long pull at the bottle 
I handed him in my gratitude. "Here's to your wife. Grimes!" 
and the cars starting just then, "deer bil" took another pull and, 
with great absence of mind, put the bottle in his pocket and waved 
us adieu. 

The Mail car, like the Express, was a box ten feet by six — one- 
half the space filled with counter and pigeon-holes, and the other half 
with mail-bags. Into the remainder were crammed the agent — 
specific gravity equal to that of two hundred and ninety pounds of 
feathers — a friend of his and myself. The friend I soon found was 
what is known as "a good traveling companion;" /. e., a man who 
keeps himself primed with broad stories and bad whisky, and who 
doesn't object to a song in which the air always runs away with the 
harmony. After we started I tried to sleep. It was no use. Lying 
on one mail-bag with another for a pillow, that is liable to be jerked 
out at any station to the near dislocation of your neck, with a funny 
man sitting nearly on you, are not sedatives. My bottle was gone, 
so I drank gin out of the funny man's. I hate gin— but that night 
I hated everything and tried the similia similibus rule. 

We missed connection at Weldon. Did anybody ever make con- 
•nection there ? We were four hours late, and with much reason 
had, therefore, to wait five hours more. If Kingsville is cheap and 
•nasty, Weldon is dear and nastier. Such a supper! It was inedible 
•even to a man who had tasted nothing but whisky, gin and peanuts for 
forty-eight hours. Then the landlord— whose hospitality was only 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 83 

equaled by his patriotism — refused to open his house at train time. 
We must either stay all night, or not at all — for the house would shut 
at ten o'clock — just after supper. So a deputation of the Crescents and 
I waited on him, and after a plain talk concluded to " cuss and quit." 
So we clambered into some platform cars that were to go with the 
train, and, after a sumptuous supper of dried-apple pies and peanuts, 
slept the sleep of the weary. 



84 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XI. 



t " 



" ON TO RICHMOND! 

Of course, Petersburg was reached two hours after the train for 
Richmond had left, but in full time to get half a cold breakfast, at 
double price. For, about the first development one noted in the 
South was the growth of an inordinate greed in the class who had 
anything to sell, or to do, that was supposed to be indispensable. 
The small hotels and taverns along the railways pecuhariy evidenced 
this ; for, demands of passengers must be supplied, and this was the 
moment for harvest full and i^X.. Disgust, wetting, gin and detention 
had made me feel wolfish ; but I wanted none of that breakfast. 
Still, I gave the baldheaded man, with nose like a vulture — collect- 
ing nimbly tlie dollars of the soldiers — a very decided expression of 
my opinion. He seemed deeply pained thereat ; but no one ever 
mentioned that he had put down the price. 

At the depot was Frank C, an old chum of Washington "ger- 
mans," in the new dress of first sergeant of a Georgia battery. He 
was rushing a carload of company property to Richmond, and was 
as eager as I and the Crescents to get to that goal. So, between us, 
the railroad superintendent was badgered into an extra engine; and, 
mounting Frank's triumphal car, we bumped away from fellow trav- 
elers, wandering dolefully through the mud in vain attempt at time- 
killing until the evening train. That freight-car — piled as it was with 
ammunition, wheels and harness — was a Godsend, after the jxist three 
days. Cicero, Frank's ancient and black Man Friday, dispensed h(X 
coffee and huge hunks of bread and ham ; and a violin and two good 
voices among the Crescents made the time skim along far faster than 
since starting. 

"How is it you haven't your commission?" one of the Creoles 
asked the Georgian. "When we parted at Montgomery it was prom- 
ised you." 

"Pledges are not commissions, though.'' was the careless reply. 
"I o-ot tired of waiting the Secretary's caprices, when there was real 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 85 

work to be done; so one day I went to the War Department and 
demanded either my sheepskin, or a positive refusal. I got only more 
promises ; so I told tlie Sec. 1 needed no charity from the govern- 
ment, but would present it with a company! Then, to be as good as 
my word, I sold some cotton and some stock, equipped this com- 
pany and — voila tout! " 

" J3ut you are not commanding your company? " 

"Couldn't do it, you see. Wouldn't let the boys elect me an 
officer and have the Sec. think I had bought my commission ! But, 
old fellow, I'll win it before the month is out; and, if God spares me, 
mother shall call her boy Colonel Frank, before Christmas ! " 

Poor Frank ! Before the hoped-for day his bones were bleaching 
in front of Fort Magruder. One morning the retreat from York- 
town — a pitiful roadside skirmish — a bullet in his brain — and the 
tramp of McClellan's advancing hosts packed the fresh sods over liis 
grave, herois 7iioniimentum ! He was one of many, but no tiucr heart 
or readier hand were stilled in all the war. 

Passing out of the cut through the high bluff, just across the 
**Jeems" river bridge, Richmond burst beautifully into view ; spread- 
ing panorama-like over her swelling hills, with the evening sun gild- 
ing simple houses and towering spires alike into a glory. The city 
follows the curve of the river, seated on amphitheatric hills, retreat- 
ing from its banks; fringes of dense woods shading their slopes, or 
making blue background against the sky. No city of the South has 
grander or more picturesque approach ; and now — as the slant rays 
of the sun kissed her a loving good-night — nothing in the view hinted 
of war to come, but all of holy peace. 

Just here the James narrows its bed between high banks, and for 
some three miles — from Hollywood cemetery down to "Rockett's" 
landing — the shallow current dashes over its rocky bed with the force 
and chafe of a mountain torrent; now swirling, churned into foamy 
rapids, again gliding swiftly smooth around larger patches of islands 
that dot its surface. On the right hand hills, behind us, rises the 
suburb village of Manchester, already of considerable importance as 
a milling town ; and the whole coup d'oeil — from the shining heights of 
Chimborazo to the green slopes of the city of the silent, the grim, gray 
old capitol as a centerpiece — makes a Claud landscape that admits 
no thought of the bloody future ! 



86 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

The railroad bridge — then a frail, giddy structure, wide enough 
for a track and footway — spans near a mile across the boiling cur- 
rent. From the car-platform, the treetops far below and the rugged^ 
foam-crowned rocks look inhospitably distant. I have whirled round 
the high trestles on the Baltimore &: Ohio when the work swayed 
and rattled under the heavy train, threatening each moment to hurl 
us down the precipitous mountain into the black, rocky bed of the 
Cheat, hundreds of feet below; have dashed at speed round steep 
grades hewn in the solid rock, where the sharp, jagged peaks rose a 
thousand feet beneath us; and I have raced in pitchy nights on the 
Avestern rivers in tinder-box boats, that seemed shaking to pieces 
away from their red-hot furnaces ; but I do not recall any piece of 
travel that gave the same sense of the instability of railroad affairs as 
that James river bridge. 

The city was thoroughly jammed — its ordinary population of forty 
thousand swelled to three times that number by the sudden pressure. 
Of course, all the Government, with its thousand employes, had come 
on ; and in addition, all the loose population along the railroad over 
which it had passed seemed to have clung to and been rolled into 
Richmond with it. Not only did this mania seize the wealthier and 
well-to-do classes, but the queerest costumes of the inland corners of 
Georgia and Tennessee disported themselves with perfect composure 
at hotels and on the streets. Besides, from ten to fifteen thousand 
troops were always collected, as a general rendezvous, before assign- 
ment to one of the important points — Norfolk, the Peninsula, or the 
Potomac lines. Although these were in camp out of town, their offi- 
cers and men thronged the streets from daylight to dark, on business 
or pleasure bent; and the variety of uniforms — from the butternut 
of the Georgia private to the three stars of the flash colonel — broke 
the monotony of the streets pleasingly to the eye. 

Hotel accommodations in Richmond were always small and plain, 
and now they were all overflowing. The Spotswood, Exchange and 
American held beds at a high premium in the parlors, halls and even 
on the billiard-tables. All the lesser houses were equally packed, 
and crowds of guests stood hungrily round the dining-room doors 
at meal-times, watching and scrambling for vacated seats. It was a 
clear case of "devil take the hindmost," for their cuisine decreased 
in quantity and quaUty in exact ratio to augmentation of their cus- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 87 

torn. The Richmond hotels, always mediocre, were now wretched. 
Such a thing as a clean room, a hot steak, or an answered bell were 
not to be bought by flagrant bribery. I would fain believe that all 
concerned did their best ; but rapid influx absolutely overwhelmed 
them ; and resources of the neighboring country — ample to support 
one-third the numbers now collected — were quickly exhausted under 
suddenly tripled demand. No transportation for private supplies was 
available in the overtaxed condition of the railroads ; so the strangers, 
perforce, had to "grin and bear it," dry soever as the grin might be. 
Private boarding-houses sprang up like mushrooms on every block ; 
bereaved relicts and ambitious spinsterhood equally clutching the 
chance to turn an honest penny. And naturally, ordinary trials of 
boarding-house life were aggravated by circumstance. Discomfort of 
the hotels was great enough ; but, dessicated into the boarding-house 
can, it became simply unendurable. In this strait many private fami- 
lies were induced to open their doors to the better class of strangers; 
and gradually the whole dense population settled down, wedged into 
comparative quiet. Happily, my lines fell in these pleasanter places; 
and, whatever the unavoidable trials, it were base ingratitude in an 
experimental pilgrim among the mail-bags to indite a new Jeremiad 
thereon. 

Suites of rooms had been reserved at the Spotswood hotel for the 
President and some of his Cabinet; so that house naturally became 
headquarters. Mr. Davis' office, the " Cabinet-room " with the State 
and Treasury Departments were located in the custom-house ; and 
the other bureaux of the Government were relegated to the " Mechan- 
ics' Institute," an ungainly pile of bricks, formerly used as library and 
lecture-rooms. 

The State of Virginia, though not at all on pleasure bent in invit- 
ing the Government to her capital, had yet been of frugal enough' 
mind not to commence preparations in advance of acceptance ; and 
the hejira followed so swiftly upon it that we plumped down into their 
very midst. Miss Bremer — who declared Alexandria entirely finished 
because she never heard the sound of a hammer — would have been 
more than amused at Richmond. The great halls of the Institute were 
cutting up into offices, with deafening clatter, day and night; and 
one of the Cabinet secretaries — who did not exhibit, if indeed he pos- 
sessed, that aspiration ascribed to the devil when ill — swore himself 
almost to a shadow. 



88 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Both these pubUc offices faced upon Capitol Square ; a large, iron- 
fenced space, beautifully undulating and with walks winding under 
grand old trees. On the central hill stood the old State Capitol, pict- 
uresque from the river, but grimly dirty on close inspection. It is 
a plain, quadrangular construction, with Grecian pediment and col- 
umns on its south front and broad flights of steps leading to its side 
porticoes. Below were the halls of the legislature, now turned over 
to the Confederate States Congress ; and in the small rotunda con- 
necting them stood Houdon's celebrated statue of Washington — a 
simple but majestic figure in marble, ordered by Dr. Franklin from 
the French sculptor in 17S5 — of which Virginians are justly proud. 
In the cool, vaulted basement were the State ofticials ; and above the 
halls the offices of the governor and the State library. That collec- 
tion, while lacking many modern works, held some rare and valuable 
editions. It was presided over by the gentlest and most courteous 
litterateur of the South. Many a bedeviled and ambitious public 
man may still recall his quiet, modest aid, in strong contrast to the 
brusquene and "insolence of office," too much the general rule; and 
his touching, heart-born poems were familiar at every southern 
hearth and camp-fireside. Soon after, the familiar voice of friend- 
ship was dulled to him — exul patricr — by the boom of the broad Atlan- 
tic ; and now his bones rest far away from those alcoves and their 
classic dust. 

John R. Thompson, the editor of the famous "Southern Literary 
Messenger," went to London to edit "The Index," established in 
the never-relinquished hope of influencing European opinion. On 
reaching New York, when the cause he loved was lost, the staunch 
friendship of Richard Henry Stoddard and the appreciation of Will- 
iam Cullen Bryant found him congenial work on " The Post." But 
the sensitive spirit was broken ; a itw brief years saw the end, and 
only a green memory is left to those who loved, even without know- 
ing, the purest southern poet. 

From the roof of the Capitol is had the finest view of Richmond, 
the surrounding country lying like a map for a radius of twenty miles. 
Only from this bird's-eye view can a perfect idea be gained of the 
elevation of the city, perched above a rolling country — its stretches 
of meadowland below cut by the valley of the James: the river steal- 
ing in sluggish, molten silver through it, or heaving up inland into 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 89 

bold, tree-bearded hills, high enough to take the light from the clouds 
on their tops, as a halo. Far northward alternate swells of light and 
depressions of shadow among the hills; the far-off horizon making a 
girdle of purple light, blended into the blue of undefined woods. On 
clear days, a splendid ozone fills the air af that high perch, the pict- 
ure having, as far as the eye can travel, stereoscopic clearness. 

Immediately beneath lies the Square ; its winding walks, rare old 
trees and rich sweep of sod filled with children, so full of enjoy- 
ment that one is half-minded to drop down and roll over the grass 
with them. On the central walk, midway between the Capitol and St. 
Paul's church, stands Crawford's equestrian Washington in bronze, 
restijig upon a circular base and pedestal of plain granite, in which 
are bases foj statues of the mighty Virginians of the past. Only the 
three southern ones were now occupied; but those figures — Jefferson, 
Mason and Henry — were accepted as surpassing in merit the cen- 
tral work. The Washington is imposing in size and position, but its 
art is open to criticism. The horse is exaggeration of pose and 
muscle; being equally strained, though not rampant, as that inoppor- 
tune charger on which Clark Mills perched General Jackson, at the 
national Capital. Nor is this "first in peace" by any means "the 
first" on horseback; the figure being theatric rather than dignified, 
and the extended arm more gymnastic than statuesque. 

An irate senator once told the august body he addressed that it 
was a warning to them-— " pointing straight to the penitentiary!" 
So, as a whole, the group, if not thoroughly classic, may be admirably 
useful. 

From Capitol Square, open, wide streets — neatly built up and 
meeting each other at right angles — stretch away on all sides ; an 
occasional spire or dome, and frequent houses larger than the rest, 
breaking the monotony. Below, toward the river, lie the basins, docks 
and rows of warehouses; and further still is the landing, "Rockett's," 
the head of river navigation, above which no vessels of any size can 
come. Just under the Capitol — to the East — stands the governor's 
house, a plain, substantial mansion of the olden time, embosomed in 
trees and flower-beds. Further off, in the same line, rise the red and 
ragged slopes of Church Hill. It takes its name from the old church 
in which Patrick Henry made his celebrated speech — a structure still 
in pretty good preservation. And still further away — opposite the 



go Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

vanishing point of the water view — are seen the green tops of Cliim- 
borazo Heights and Howard's Grove — hospital sites, whose names 
have been graven upon the hearts of all southern people by the mor- 
dant of sorrow! 

Just across the river, to the South, the white and scattered village 
of Manchester is prettily relieved against the green slopes on which 
it sits. There the bridge cuts the shining chafe of the river like a 
black wire; and just under it, the wind sighs softly in the treetops 
of Belle Isle, afterward to become so famous in the newspaper annals 
of the North, as a prison for the Union soldiers captured in the long 
struggle for the city. 

Far to the west, higher shafts of Hollywood Cemetery gleam 
among the trees ; and the rapids, dancing down in the sunlight, break 
away into a broader sheet of foam around its point. Except, per- 
haps, "Bonnie Venture" {Hiuvia Ventura), at Savannah, there is no 
site for a cemetery in the South, naturally so picturesque and at the 
same time solemn, as this. Rising from comparatively level ground 
in the rear, it swells and undulates in a series of gentle hills to the 
river, that embraces it on three sides. Rows of magnificent old trees 
in many places arch quite across the walk — giving, even at midday, 
a half- twilight — and the sigh of the river breeze in their tops, ming- 
ling with the constant roar of the rapids, seems to sing a Te Deum 
for the dead. The graves are simple and unpretending — only an 
occasional column of any prominence rearing itself above the hum- 
bler surroundings. 

On a hill — ^just behind the point where the river curves round the 
extreme point — rest the ashes of Monroe, enclosed in a large and 
ornate mausoleum, where they were laid when escorted south by the 
New York Seventh Regiment. That escort was treated with all the 
generous hospitality Virginia can so well use ; and numerous and 
deep were the oaths of amity between the citizen-soldiers. Though 
the Seventh were not notoriously deadly, in the war tliat followed, 
only the shortest of memories — or, indeed, the most glowing of patri- 
otism — could have erased the brother-love, then and there bumpered 
down ! 

Under the hills of the cemetery — the dirty, dull canal creeping 
between them — stand tlie buildings, dam and powerful pumps of the 
water service ; ordinarily more than adequate for all uses. Usually, 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 91 

the water was pure and clear ; but when heavy rains washed the 
river lands, the " noble Jeenis " rushed by with an unsavory and 
dingy current, that might have shamed the yellow Tiber and rivaled 
the Nile itself. Sometimes the weary and worn patriot took his 
whisky and mud, thick enough to demand a fork ; and for days 
"The water is muddy and dank 
As ever a company pumped." 

The outskirts of Richmond are belled by bold crests, near enough 
together to form a chain of natural forts. These were now fortifying ; 
the son of wealth, the son of Erin and the son of Ham laboring in 
perspiration and in peace side by side. Later these forts did good 
turn, during cavalry raids, when the city was uncovered and the gar- 
rison but nominal. 

Gamble's hill, a pretty but steep slope, cuts the river west of the 
bridge. Rising above its curves, from the Capitol view-point, are the 
slate-roofed Tredegar Works; their tall chimneys puffing endless black 
smoke against the sunshine, which reflects it, a livid green, upon the 
white foam of the rapids. So potent a factor in the aggressive power 
of the Confederacy was this foundry that it overtopped the regular 
government agencies. When the war began, this was the only roll- 
ing-mill of great capacity, of which the South could boast ; the only 
one, indeed, capable of casting heavy guns. Almost the first deci- 
sive act of Virginia was to prevent, by seizure, the delivery to United 
States officers of some guns cast for them by the Tredegar Works ; 
and, from that day, there were no more earnest and energetic work- 
ers for the cause of southern independence than the firm of Jos. R. 
Anderson & Co. It was said, at this time, that the firm was in finan- 
cial straits. But it thrived so well on government patronage — spite 
of sundry boards to consider if army and navy work was not 
paid for at ruinously low rates — that it greatly increased in size; 
added to its utility by importations of costly machinery, through the 
blockade ; stood loss of one-third of its buildings, by fire ; used a 
ship of its own for importation ; and, at the close of the struggle, was 
in better condition than at the commencement. The senior partner 
was, for a time, in the field at head of his brigade ; but affairs were 
so well managed, in the interval, by the Messrs. Tanner — father and 
son, who were partners with General Anderson — that his absence was 
not appreciable in the work. 



92 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

It was at the Tredegar Works that the famous *' Brooke gun" — a 
rifled 7 -inch — was cast, tested and perfected. Here the plates for 
the iron-clads, in ahnost all southern waters, were rolled or made 
ready for use. Here heavy ordnance for the forts was cast, together 
with shells and shot ; and here the torpedoes — sometimes so effect- 
ive, and usually so useless — were contrived and made. Indeed, the 
Tredegar \Vorks so greatly aided the Confederacy, that the lengthen- 
ing of the war may be, in large measure, attributed to their capacity, 
and to the able zeal with which they were managed. 

So great and effective an agent c(nild not fail to receive, from the 
Richmond government, every aid in obtainance of supplies, labor 
and transportation. "The Works" had mines, mills and pork-pack- 
eries in various sections of the South; thus obtaining coal and metals, 
as well as food — at reduced rates, within reach of their wages — for 
an army of employes. So great was the necessary number of these — 
whites, skilled in labor — that even closest conscrii)tion left the junior 
of the firm a full battalion of infantry. This, drilled and equipped 
from his own shops, Major Tanner led in person, when raids or other 
straits made their soldiering paramount to other occupation. And — 
even when greatest scarcity of provisions came — the agents of " the 
Works " proceeded with those of the commissary of the Confederacy, 
pati passu. 

An odd incident, coming to mind just here, will point the general 
estimate of the importance of the Tredegar Works. A special train 
was crossing the bridge, en route for Petersburg, at a time when trans- 
portation was rare. A huge negro, blacker than the soot upon his 
face, sat placidly on the platform of the rear car. 

"What are you doing here?" was asked by the officer in charge. 

" Rid'n' t' Petesbug," was the placid reply. 

*' Have you paid your fare ?" 

*' Don' got nun t' jiay, boss. Rides onner pass, I does!" 

" Work for the government?" — this rather impatiently. 

Ebo rolled his eyes, with expression of deep disgust, as he re- 
ponded, grandly: 

*' No — sah ! Fur t'uther consarn ! " 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 93 



CHAPTER XII. 

SETTLING TO THE REAL WORK. 

Notwithstanding the haste of removal from Montgomery, the vast 
amount of work to be reduced to regular order, and the apparent 
confusion of the executive departments, affairs rapidly shaped them- 
selves into working form soon after the arrival in Richmond. 

That city, as the terminus of railway travel from the South and West, 
was naturally the rendezvous for all troops coming from the various 
(quarters of the Confederacy; and, at the date of the change of gov- 
ernment, some fifteen thousand were already collected in the camps 
about the town. These comprised levies from every section of the 
ten states that had adhered to the southern government — regulars, 
volunteers and militia and of all arms. 

South Carolina and Louisiana had immediately on their secession 
organized regular armies, on a more perfect and permanent basis than 
their sister states, and had garrisoned their forts — and points then 
supposed most vulnerable — with them. The call of the Confederate 
Government for more troops had not interfered with these organiza- 
tions, but had brought into the field new material in the shape of 
volunteer regiments and battalions of cavalry, artillery and infantry. 

While, as a general thing, the rank and file of the state regulars 
were composed of the laboring classes, foreigners and the usual use- 
less and floating portion of their populations, officered by gentlemen 
of better position and education, appointed by the governors, the 
volunteers had in their ranks men of all conditions, from the hum- 
blest laborer to the scholar, the banker and the priest. 

They were commanded by men they themselves elected, as being 
the most competent and acceptable, either by reason of greater abil- 
ity, or military education. 

Upon the action of her convention, Virginia was found to have 
been in nowise behind the other states in her preparations. In fact, 
she had anticipated its somewhat tardy movement and had marshaled 
into order an array of her stout yeomanry that was in itself no con- 
temptible army. When she joined the Confederacy, she offered to its 



94 Four ]'tdrs in Kt/u/ Cd/^i/cr/s. 

acceptance over twenty full regiments, and parts of others sufiicient 
to make eight or ten more. 

Ahnost all the officers of the United States Army and Navy, from 
her lK)rders, had promptly resigned and tendered their swords and 
services to her governor. Robert E. Lee — with his great family influ- 
ence and connection — Joseph E. Johnston, Magruder, Stuart, and a 
host of others whose names shine bright in the annals of war, had 
even anticipated the formal act of secession ; and its passage found 
them busily working, with any rank and in any way that could best 
conduce to the good of the state. With their aid, Virginia, too, had 
organized a regular army ; and, feeling the necessity for prompt 
action to be imminent, had armed, drilled and equipped it to the limit 
of her straightened means; and had already begun to put her frontiers 
into a state of defense. 

General Lee was made commander-in-chief, and the flower of 
Virginia, from the old army, were made generals and subordinate ofti- 
cers under him. 

The gentlemen of the Old Dominion were not slow to show a good 
example to the lower classes. Crack companies that had been un- 
used to any more dreadful war than the blank cartridge of a holiday 
]xrgeant, went in to a man ; whole battalions were formed from which 
no drop of blood might be spilled, that did not flow straight from one 
of the known and honored of her history. 

Who has not heard of the First Virginia ? a name that brings back 
the grand old days of chivalric devotion and doughty deed! Who in 
the South does not honor it? though scarce a dozen of the noble hearts 
that first flocked to its proud banner can now gather round the grim 
and shattered old lion, who bought with many a wound in front the 
right to lead it to the fray. And " Co. F," in whose ranks were the 
brilliant advocate, the skillful surgeon, the man of letters and the 
sn>ooth-faced pet of the Mayday gathering — all tliat made the 
pride, the boast and the love of Richmond! 

The beacon had been lighted on the mountain top, and had 
gleamed by her river sides ! The sturdy hunter from the West, and 
the dashing hors.man from the East ; the merchant at his till, and 
the farmer, with hard hand on the plough-handle — all heard the voice 
of the bugle and answered with a shout ! 

Men of all classes — from the highest-born and richest to the hum- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 95 

blest and poorest — from the grandsire with his flint-lock to the sunny- 
haired stripling scarcely in his teens — with one accord 

" Came forth at the call 

With the rush of their rivers when tempests appall. 
And the torrents their sources unseal !" 

Thus, when the Government first felt that Virginia was to be the 
battle-ground and decided to lash its fortunes to hers amid the black 
billows that were surging around it, an army was already in the field; 
partially armed, already somewhat proficient in drill and learning, by 
the discipline of camp and bivouac, to prej;are for the stern realities 
of war. 

In many instances, the posting of their regulars by the respective 
state governments had been considered so judicious, that the War De- 
partment made no change; as, for instance, in garrisoning the forts in 
Charleston harbor by the South Carolina Regular Artillery, and those 
at New Orleans by the ist and 2d Louisiana Regulars. But after the 
necessary garrison had been left in the most exposed points, every 
available man was ordered to Virginia. Here the work of organization 
went on with a smoothness and regularity scarcely to have been looked 
for. Occasionally a hitch occurred that threatened to get the threads 
of preparation into an ugly knot ; but it was ever unraveled without 
the Gordian treatment. 

Fresh troops from every quarter were collecting rapidly. First 
came Gregg's regiment of South Carolinians; and they were met 
with open arms by the Virginians, soldiery and citizens. They re- 
ceived the first gush of the new brotherhood of defiance and of dan- 
ger; and their camp — constantly visited by the ladies and even chil- 
dren of Richmond — had more the air of a picnic than of a bivouac. 
Many of the men and most of the officers in the First Carolina bore 

" Names, 
Familiar in their mouths as household words." 

They were descendants from that other revolution, the political cele- 
brities, or the watering-place beaux ; and the houses of Richmond 
were opened to them at once. Dinners, parties and rides were im- 
provised, and the first comers were voted, especially by the ladies, a 
"joy forever." Gradually, as regiment after regiment marched in 
and the city filled to overflowing with the still welcome strangers, the 
novelty wore off; and, though the feeling of fellowship and kindli- 



y6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

ness was just as strong, the citizens found that their hearts were larger 
than tlieir houses, and that even Virginia hospitality must have a 
limit. Varied, indeed, were the forms one met on every street and road 
about Richmond. Here the long-haired Texan, sitting his horse like a 
centaur, with high-peaked saddle and jingling spurs, dashed by — a pict- 
ured giiacho. There the western mountaineer, with bearskin shirt, 
fringed leggings, and the long, deadly rifle, carried one back to the 
days of Boone and the "dark and bloody ground." The dirty gray and 
tarnished silver of the muddy-complexioned Carolinian ; the dingy but- 
ternut of the lank, muscular Georgian, with its green trimming and 
full skirts ; and the Alabamians from the coast, nearly all in blue of 
a cleaner hue and neater cut ; while the Louisiana troops were, as a 
general thing, better equipped and more regularly uniformed than 
any others in the motley throng. 

But the most remarked dress that flashed among these varied uni- 
forms was the blue-and-orange of the Maryland Zouaves. At the 
time of the riot of the 19th of April, there had just been perfected a 
splendid organization of the younger gentlemen of the Monumental 
City — a veritable corps d' cliie — known as the " Maryland Guard." It 
was as remarkable for excellence of discipline and perfection of equip- 
ment, as for containing the very best blood of the city; and, though 
taking no part — as an organization — in the riot, it was immediately 
afterward put by its ofiicers at the disposal of the Baltimore authori- 
ties. 

When it became apparent that Maryland could take no active 
part in the struggle, many members of this corps promptly left the 
luxuries of their homes, their early associations, and even the very 
means of livelihood, to go south and battle for the principles they 
held. They unhesitatingly expatriated themselves, and gave up all 
they held dear — except honor — to range themselves under that flag 
for which they had declared. Many of them had been born and 
reared southerners — many had only the chivalric intention to fight for 
the cause they felt right. Their sympathies all went with the South, 
and their blood leaped to help her in this her hour of sore trial. 

Was it strange that the generous Virginian should have opened his 
arms to give these men the embrace of fellowship and brotherhood ; 
that they should have been honored guests at every hospitable board ; 
that bright eyes should have glanced brighter at a glimpse of the 
orange and blue ? 



, Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 97 

Much has been said and much written of the Marylanders in the 
South ; of their demoralized condition, their speculative tendencies, 
and their wild dissipations. Not a few of them came for plunder — 
some left their country for their country's good: — but in the veins of 
such only a muddy current ran ! Where the Maryland gentleman 
was found on the stranger soil, it was musket in hand, battling for 
it; and so well was his devoir done, that he rapidly changed the 
bayonet for the sword ; and more than one general, whose name will 
live in the South, came from their number. 

Almost all the soldiery wore the broad, soft slouch, in place of the 
more military, but less comfortable, kepi. There was something about 
it characteristic of the race — it seemed to suit exactly the free, care- 
less port of the men — and it was equally useful as a protection from 
the fierce June sun, or beating rain, and as a night-cap. 

Arms, too, were as varied as the uniforms. Many whole regi- 
ments were armed with the Belgian or Springfield musket — light, and 
carrying a large ball an immense distance; others had only the Mis- 
sissippi rifle*; while some again sported a mixture of rifles, muskets 
and shot-guns. The greatest variety was in the cavalry — if such it 
could be called. Men accustomed from infancy to the saddle and 
the rifle had seized whatever weapon they were possessed of; and 
more at home on horseback than on foot, they were, no doubt, ugly 
enemies in a bush fight, or an ambuscade. Many whole companies 
had no sabers but those their officers carried, and the very individ- 
uality and self-reliance of the men acted as an invincible opponent to 
drill and discipline. Mounted on horses of all sizes and colors; 
equipped with all varieties of trappings ; and carrying slung at their 
backs every known game-killer — from rifle to duck gun — they would 
have been a strange picture to the European officer to which their 
splendid horsemanship and lithe, agile figures could have added no 
varnish to make him believe them cavalry. 

But every man you met, mounted or footman, carried in his belt 
the broad, straight, double-edged bowie-knife, useful alike for war- 
like, or culinary purposes ; and few, indeed, did not balance it with 
the revolver. In some of the crack torps this was strictly prohib- 
ited ; for the difficulty has ever been in armies to teach the men to 
use efficiently the one weapon belonging to them; and that there is no 
safety in a multitude, 
7 



98 I^^oiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Long before the first scene of the bloody drama was done — and 
stern realities had taken the gilt from the pomp and circumstance of 
war — the actors had cast aside all the " properties " they did not ab- 
solutely need. The exhaustion of their first few battles, or a couple 
of Jackson's marches, taught them that in this race for life and limb, 
there was no need to carry extra weight. I constantly had brought 
to mind the anecdote of the Crimean Zouaves, about to charge a re- 
dan, who answered their officer's query as to the number of cartridges 
they had by tapping their saber bayonets. 

The arriving regiments were inspected, mustered into the Confed- 
erate service and drilled by competent officers ; vacancies were filled ; 
and such wanting equipments, as could be supplied, bestowed upon 
them. They were then brigaded, and after time enough to become 
accustomed to their commanders and to each other, were forwarded 
to points where, at the moment, troops appeared most needed. 

The three points in Virginia, considered as vital, were the Penin- 
sula, formed by the James and York rivers, Norfolk, and the open 
country around and about Orange Courthouse to the Potomac. 
Fortress Monroe impregnable to assault, by the land side, and so 
easily provisioned and garrisoned by sea, was looked upon as the most 
dangerous neighbor. From its walls, the legions of the North might, 
at any moment, swoop down upon the unprotected country around it 
and establish a foothold, from which it would be hard to dislodge 
them, as at Newport's News. Its propinquity to Norfolk, together 
with the vast preponderance of the United States in naval power, 
made an attack upon that place the most reasonable supposition. 
The State of Virginia had already put it in as good defense as the 
time permitted. General Huger, a distinguished officer of Ordnance 
from the U. S. service, had at once been sent there ; and his prepara- 
tions had been such that an unfinished earth work, at Sewell's Point, 
stood for four hours, on the 19th of May, the bombardment of the U. 
S. ships ''Minnesota" and " Monticello." 

The Confederate War Department felt such confidence in the en- 
gineering and administrative ability of General Huger, that it endorsed 
the action of Virginia by giving him a brigadier's commission and in- 
structions to put Norfolk and the avenues of its approach in complete 
state of defense. A sufficient garrison of picked troops — among them 
the Third Alabama and some of the best Richmond companies — was 
given him ; and Norfolk was soon declared securely fortified. 



Foxir Years in Rebel Capitals. 99 

The Peninsula was even more exposed to land attack from Fortress 
Monroe; and General John B. Magruder had been sent there with a 
part of the Virginia army, with headquarters at Yorktown. General 
Magruder had long been a well-known officer of the U, S. Army, 
where his personal popularity and a certain magnificence of manner 
had gained him the sobriquet of "Prince John." He possessed 
energy and dash in no mean degree ; and on arriving at his sphere of 
duty, strained every nerve to put the Peninsula in a state of defense. 
His work, too, was approved by the Confederate War Department; 
the commission of brigadier conferred upon him, and re-enforcements 
— sufficient in its judgment, though not in his — were sent at once to 
his command. 

While Fortress Monroe threatened the safety of Norfolk, and, by 
the Peninsula of the lower approaches to Richmond, Alexandria 
could hold a formidable army, ready at any moment to swoop down 
by the upper and more accessible approaches around Orange Court- 
house. The occupation of Alexandria by the Union forces on the 
24th of May was looked upon by Confederate leaders as the most 
decided act of war yet ventured upon by their wary adversary. 
Whatever may have been done within the non-seceded '&\.2Xtz, the South 
deluded herself that it was simply an exposition of the power of the 
government — a sort of Chinese warfare of gongs and tom-toms. 
The passage of the Potomac and seizure of a city under the segis of 
the Confederate Government was actually crossing the Rubicon and 
carrying the war directly into the southern territory. Fortress Monroe 
and other fortified points still held by the United States, in the South, 
were conceded to be in a measure hers, at least by the right of pos- 
session ; but Alexandria was considered part and parcel of the Con- 
federacy, and as such sacred from invasion. Hence no means were 
taken to prevent its occupation. On Virginia soil — many of its citi- 
zens already in the rebel ranks, and its houses a rendezvous for the 
cavalry of the Virginia army, its seizure was construed to mean real 
invasion. 

The possession of this key to the land approaches of Richmond ; 
its great facilities of re-enforcement and supply by propinquity to the 
depots at Washington and elsewhere; and the determined intention of 
the Federals to hold and use it, could not be misunderstood. 

And while the Southern Government felt the advantages its posses- 



loo Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

sion o-ave the Union troops for concentrating and advancing, the peo- 
ple were aroused to a pitch of high indignation by the choice of the 
troops sent to first invade their soil. 

The war, too, was yet young enough to leave all the romance 
about it ; scenes of violence were as yet rare ; and the death of Jack- 
son, with the circumstances attending it, caused a deep and general 
feelinw of bitterness. While the southern public opened its arms and 
took to its sympathy and protection the widow and orphans of the 
first Virginian whose blood was shed in her cause, many and bitter 
were the vows made around the bivouac to avenge his untimely end. 
The men who made the grim vow were of the stuff to keep it; the 
name of "Jackson, the Martyr," became a war-cry, and the bloody 
tracks of Manassas 

" How that oatli was kept can tell ! " 

On the 23d of May, Joseph E. Johnston received his commission 
as General in the Regular Army, and went to Harper's Ferry in 
command of all troops in that region — known as the Army of the 
Shenandoah. Beauregard, with the same grade, was recalled on his. 
way to the West, and sent to command at jSIanassas. 

From the great ease of putting troops across the fords of the Poto- 
mac into Virginia, it was considered necessary to concentrate, at 
points from which they could be easily shifted, a sufficient reliable 
force to meet any such movement ; and the two officers in whom the 
government had greatest confidence as tacticians, were sent to watch 
for and checkmate it. 

Meanwhile, Missouri had risen, the governor had declared the 
rights of the State infringed ; and the movements of Generals Lyon 
and Blair — culminating m the St. Louis riots between the citizens and 
the Dutch soldiery — had put an end to all semblance of neutrahty. 
Governor Jackson moved the state archives, and transferred the capi- 
tal from Jefferson City to Boonesville. On the 13th of June he issued 
a proclamation calling for fifty thousand volunteers to defend the 
State of Missouri from Federal invasion ; and appointed Sterling Price 
a major-general, with nine brigadiers, among whom were Jeff 
Thompson, Clark and Parsons. Perhaps no state went into open re- 
sistance of the LTnited States authority as unprepared in every way as 
Missouri. Her population was scattered ; one-half L^nion, and utterly 
ignorant of drill, discipline, or any of the arts of war. They were. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. loi 

tesides, perfectly unarmed, except with their hunting pieces, and the 
state Capital, the arsenals and all the larger towns were in possession 
of the Union troops. These laughed at the attempt of Missouri to 
shake off the grasp of the government, and their generals boldly pro- 
claimed that "she was under the paws of the lion, and her first move- 
ment would cause them to close and crush her life out." 

Still, Price, seconded by his brigadiers, went to work with great 
activity to collect their scattered adherents and put them into form. 
In a country held by superior forces, with communications cut up and 
no means of information, the task was Herculean, indeed. Yet they 
endeavored by zeal and energy to make amends for these deficiencies 
and for the want of supplies. Price's name was a tower of strength 
in itself; his hardy compatriots flocked around him, and nearly every 
day there were collisions between them and the United States troops. 
These skirmishes, though unimportant in themselves, gave the new 
soldiers lessons in war ; and not infrequently added to their scanty 
stock of arms and equipments. They were but the first dashes in the 
grand tableaux of war that Price was yet to hew, with the bold hand 
of a master, from the crude mass of material alone in his power to 
use. 



I02 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE LEADERS AND THE LED, 



Thus much of detail arranged. General Lee was, for the pres- 
ent, detained in Richmond by the President, as consulting and organ- 
izing officer; and to aid the Adjutant-General — Samuel Cooper, senior 
general of the five — in the location of armies, distribution of troops, 
and assignment of officers. General Lee's perfect knoAvledge of the 
viatcriel o{ the Virginia army and of tlie topographical features of the 
state, peculiarly fitted him for this work ; but every step was taken 
subject to the decision of Mr. Davis himself. The appointments of 
officers, the distribution of troops — in foct, the minutije of the War 
Department — were managed by him in person. 

He seemed fully alive to the vital importance of making the 
groundwork of the military system solid and smooth. Real prepara- 
tions had begun so late that only the strong hand could now avail ; 
and though ^Ir. Walker still held the empty portfolio of the secre- 
taryship, he, and the army, and the country knew who, in fact, did 
the work. But to do Mr. Davis justice, he did not make \\\% fantoccini 
suffer if he pulled the wires the wrong way. He was not only Presi- 
dent and secretary of five departments — which naturally caused some 
errors ; but that spice of the dictator in him made him quite willing 
to shoulder the responsibilities of all the positions. 

Now, as in Montgomery, I wondered that the frail body — tb.at 
could not bend — did not break beneath the load of anxiety and 
bodily labor he imposed upon it. His energy and industry were 
untiring; and every afternoon the declining sun found him in the 
saddle, inspecting and reviewing the troops, at one of the many 
camps near town. Sometimes the hard, stolid face of the Postmas- 
ter-General appeared at his side ; again Senator Wigfall galloped 
along, with his pants stuck in his boots and seeming to enjoy the 
saddle much more than the curule chair; and often '* Little Jeff "' — 
the Benjamin of Mr. Davis' household — trotted at his side. But 
there was never a suite, seldom a courier : and wherever he went. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 103 

plain, stirring syllables of cheer — and strong, grave words of incen- 
tive — dropped from his lips among the soldiery. They were treas- 
ured as the truth, too, by that rough auditory ; for as yet, Mr. Davis 
was in the zenith of his popularity — a perfect idol with army and 
people. The first sight of the tall, erect figure, swaying so easily to 
the action of the powerful gray, was a signal for the wildest cheers 
from the camps ; and the people in the streets raised their hats and 
stood uncovered while the representative man passed. 

Cavil, jealousy and partisan intrigue, in which he and the cause 
finally went down together, had not yet done their work. There 
were many murmurers at real, many growlers at supposed, errors ; but 
no opposition party — truer to itself and its interests than to the cause 

had yet been organized on a basis strong enough to defy and thwart 

" the man." 

Every one connected with the government remarked the vast dif- 
ference of its reception by the Richmond and Montgomery people. 
The Alabamians came forward with decision and alacrity to offer their 
lives and fortunes to the cause. They made any sacrifices to the 
government, as such ; but, privately, they regarded the individuals 
connected with it as social brigands come to rob their society of all 
that was good and pure in it. 

Richmond, on the contrary, having given the invitation, made the 
best of it when accepted. The people united insincere effort to show 
a whole-souled hospitality to all strangers deserving of it. Gentlemen 
in the government were received with frank and free-handed kindness ; 
and even a wretch, who had wintered in the shade of the Washington 
upas, was allowed to flutter about and not be gunned for by the 
double-barreled spectacles of every respectable dowager! 

Richmond was always a great place for excitements ; but with the 
great addition of inflammable material recently, it required but a very 
small spark to raise a roaring, if not dangerous, flame. 

On a bright Sunday in April, when 

" The beams of God's own hallowed day 
Had painted every spire with gold, 
And, calling sinful men to pray, 

Long, loud and deep the bell had tolled" — 

the citizens were worshipping quietly and a peaceful stillness reigned 
everywhere. Suddenly, as if a rocket had gone up, the rumor flew 



I04 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

from mouth to mouth that the "Pawnee" was steaming up the river 
to shell the city. The congregations, not waiting to be dismissed, 
rushed from the churches with a single impulse ; the alarm bell in the 
Square pealed out with a frightened chime. For once, even the 
women of Richmond were alarmed. The whole population flocked 
toward " Rocketts " — every eye strained to catch a first glimpse oi 
the terrible monster approaching so rapidly. Old and young men, in 
Sunday attire, hastened along with rusty muskets and neat " Man- 
tons " on their shoulders ; groups of bareheaded ladies were at the 
corners, asking the news and repeating every fear-invented tale; and 
more than one of the "solid men'' was seen with hand-baskets, 
loaded with rock, to dam the river! Late in the evening, the veter- 
ans of six hours were dismissed, it turning out that there was no cause 
whatever for the alarm ; and when after events showed them that vessel 
— so battered and badgered by the river batteries — " Pawnee Sunday " 
became a by-word among the citizens. 

Richmond was not cosmopolitan in her habits or ideas, and there 
was, in some quarters, a vague, lingering suspicion as to the result of 
the experiment ; but the society felt that the government was its guest, 
and as such was to be honored. The city itself was a small one, the 
society was general and provincial; and there was in it a sort of broth- 
erly-love tone that struck a stranger, at first, as very curious. This 
was, in a great measure, attributable to the fact that the social circle 
had been for years a constant quantity, and everybody in it had 
known everybody else since childhood. 

The men, as a general thing, were very cordial to the strangers, 
and some very delightful and some very odd acquaintances were made 
among them. Chief among the latter was one, whom we may call — 
as he would say " for euphony" — WillWyatt; the most perfect speci- 
men of the genus man-about-town in the city. He was very young, 
with wealth, a pleasing exterior, and an absolute greed for society. 
His naturally good mind had been very prettily cultivated — by himself 
rather than his masters — and he had traveled just enough to under- 
stand, without despising, the weaknesses of his compatriots. He and 
the omniscient Styles were fast friends, and a card to Wyatt, signed 
"Fondly thine own, S. S.," had done the business for me. His 
house, horses and friends were all at my service ; and in the few in- 
tervals that anxiety and duty left for ennui, he effectually drove the 
monster ofT. 



Fonr Years in Rebel Capitals. 105 

" I'm devilish sorry, old man," he said, one day, after we got well 
acquainted, " that there's nothing going on in the social line. Drop 
in on me at six, to dinner ; and I'll show you a clever fellow or two, 
and maybe have some music. You undei'stand, my dear boy, we 
don't entertain now. After all, it's so late in the season there'd be 
little doing in peace times; but this infernal war has smashed us up 
completely. Getting your nose red taking leave of your tender family 
is the only style they vote at all nobby now — A diner T^ 

The dinner and music at Wyatt's were not warlike — and particu- 
larly was the wine not of that description; but the men were. Over 
cigars, the conversation turned upon the organization of the army; 
and, accustomed as I was to seeing "the best men in the ranks," the 
way these young bloods talked rather astounded me. 

"Private in ' Co. F,'" answered John C. to my query — he repre- 
sented one of the finest estates on the river — " You've heard of 'F,' 
of course. We hang by the old company. Wyatt has just refused a 
captaincy of engineers to stick as third corporal." 

"Neat that, in John," put in Wyatt, "when he was offered the 
majority of a regiment of cavalry and refused it to stay in." 

"And why not?" said George H. shortly. "Pass the Madeira, 
Will. I would'nt give my place in 'F' for the best majority going. 
As far as that goes it's a mere matter of taste, I know. But the fact 
is, if we of the old organizations dodge our duty now by hunting 
commissions, how can we hope that the people will come to time 
promptly?" George H. had a quarter of a million to his credit, and 
was an only son — "Now, I think Bev did a foolish thing not to take 
his regiment when Uncle Jeff offered him the commission. 

" I don't see it," responded Beverly I. in an aggrieved tone. "You 
fellows in * F' were down on your captain when he took his colonelcy; 
and I'm as proud of my junior lieutenancy in the old First, as if I 
commanded ' F ' company itself! " 

" But is it usual," I queried, "for you gentlemen to refuse promo- 
tion when offered — I don't mean to not seek it — to remain with your 
old companies? Would you stay in the ranks as a private wlien as a 
captain or major you might do better service?" 

" Peiitctre for the present," responded Wyatt — " Don't misunder- 
stand us ; we're not riding at windmills, and I sincerely hope you'll 
see us all with wreaths on our collars yet. But there's a tacit agreement 



io6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

that just now we can do more good in the ranks than anywhere else. 
For myself, I don't delight in drill and dirt, and don't endorse that 
sentimental bosh about the ' post of honor.' But our duty is where 
we can do most good, and our example will decide many doubtful 
ones and shame the laggard," 

"And we'll all go out after a few fights, if we don't get popped off," 
put in George H., "and then we'll feel we've won our spurs!" 

' ' Well, I'm not too modest to say that I think we are pretty ex- 
pensive food for powder," said John C, "but then we're not worth 
more than the 'Crescents,' the 'Cadets,' or 'Hampton's Legion.' 
The colonel's sons are both in the ranks of the Legion, and refused 
commissions. Why should the best blood of Carolina do more than 
the best blood of Virginia ? " 

"And see those Baltimore boys," said Adjutant Y,, of a Georgia 
legion. " They've given up home, friends and wealth to come and 
fight for us and the cause. They don't go round begging for com- 
missions ! If my colonel didn't insist I was more useful where I am, 
I'd drop the bar and take a musket among them. That sort of stock 
I like ! " But if Lieutenant Y. had taken the musket, a stray bullet 
might have spoiled a most dashing major-general of cavalry. 

"I fear very much," I answered, "that the war will be long 
enough for all the really good material to come to the surface. The 
preparations at the North are on a scale we never before dreamed of, 
and her government seems determined to enforce obedience." 

" God forbid ! " and Wyatt spoke more solemnly than I ever heard 
him before. ' ' But I begm to believe as you do. I'd sooner risk my 
wreath than that ' the good material ' you speak of should have the 
' chance to come to the surface.' Think how many a good fellow 
would be under the surface by that time ! " 

"It sometimes sickens me on parade," said George H., "when 
I look down the line and think what a gap in our old set a volley will 
make ! I think we are pretty expensive food for powder, John. 
Minies are no respecters of persons, old fellow ; and there'll be 
many a black dress in Richmond after the first bulletin." 

" God send we may all meet here after the war, and drink to the 
New Nation in Wyatt's sherry!" said Lieutenant Y. "It's better 
than the water at Howard's Grove. But the mare '11 have hot work 
to get the adjutant into camp before taps. So, here's how ! " and he 
filled his glass and tossed it off, as we broke up. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 107 

I have recorded the spirit of a private, every-day conversation, 
just as I heard it over a dinner-table, from a party of giddy young 
men. But I thought over it long that night ; and many times after- 
ward when the sickening bulletins were posted after the battles. 

Here were as gay and reckless a set of youths as wealth, position 
and everything to make life dear to them could produce, going into 
a desperate war — with a perfect sense of its perils, its probable dura- 
tion and its rewards— yet refusing promotion offered, that their ex- 
ample might be more beneficial in calling out volunteers. 

And there was no Quixotism, It was the result of reason and a 
conviction that they were only doing their duty ; for, I believe every 
man of those I had just left perfectly appreciated the trials and dis- 
comforts he was preparing for himself, and felt the advantages that a 
commission, this early in the war, would give him ! 

It may be that this " romance of war" was not of long duration; 
and that after the first campaign the better class of men anxiously 
sought promotion. This was natural enough. They had won the 
right to it ; and the sacrifice of their good example had not been 
without effect. But I do think it was much less natural that they 
should have so acted in the first place. 

Industry and bustle were still the order of the day in camp; and, 
in town, the activity increased rather than abated. There were few 
idlers about Richmond, even chronic "do-nothings" becoming im- 
pressed with the idea that in the universal work they must do some- 
thing. 

The name of Henry A. Wise was relied upon by the Government 
as a great power to draw volunteers from the people he had so fre- 
quently represented in various capacities. The commission of brig- 
adier-general was given him, with authority to raise a brigade to be 
called the " Wise Legion," to operate in Western Virginia. Though 
there was no reason to think Wise would make a great soldier, his per- 
sonal popularity was supposed to be sufficient to counterbalance that 
objection; for it was of the first importance to the Government that 
the v/estern half of the State should be saved to the Confederate 
cause. In the first place, the active and hardy population was splen- 
did material for soldiers, and it was believed at Richmond that, with 
proper pressure applied, they would take up arms for the South in 
great numbers ; otherwise, when the Federal troops advanced into 



io8 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

their country, they might go to the other side. Again, the products 
of the rich western region were ahnost essential to the support of the 
troops in Virginia, in view of contracted facilities for transporta- 
tion ; and the product of the Kanawha Salines alone — the only reg- 
ular and very extensive salt works in the country — were worth a 
strenuous effort. This portion of Virginia, too, was a great military 
highway for United States troops, en route to the West; and once 
securely lodged in its almost impregnable fastnesses, their ejection 
would be practically impossible. 

General Garnett — an old army officer of reputation and proniise — 
was already in that field, with a handful of troops from the Virginia 
army ; among them a regiment from about Richmond, commanded by 
Lieutenant Colonel Pegram. The Federals, grasping at once the full 
importance of this position, had sent to meet this demonstration an 
army under General McClellan, with Rosecrans commanding the 
advance. There had been no collision, but its approach could not 
be long delayed ; and the South wanted men. 

In this posture of affairs, General Wise received his commission 
and orders. The old politician donned his uniform with great alac- 
rity; called about him a few of the best companies of Richmond, 
as a nucleus ; and went to work with all the vim and activity ex- 
pected by those who knew him best. The "Richmond Light In- 
fantry Blues" — the oldest company in Richmond, commanded by his 
son — was foremost among them. " Co. F" was to go West, too; and 
though its members, one and all, would have preferred a more prom- 
ising sphere of duty, at Yorktown, or on the Potomac, every man 
acquiesced with cheerful spirit. 

" Sair was the weeping" of the matrons and maidens of Rich- 
mond, when told their darlings were to go; but their sorrow did 
not prevent the most active demonstrations toward the comfort of 
the outer and inner man. 

"Not a pleasant summer jaunt we're to have, old man," Wyatt 
said when he bade me good-bye. ** I've been to that country hunt- 
ing and found it devilish fine ; but 'tisn't so fine by half when you're 
hunting a Yank, who has a long-range rifle and is likewise hunting for 
you. Then I've an idea of perpetual snow — glaciers — and all that 
sort of thing. I feel like the new John Franklin. But I'll write a 
book — 'Trapping the Yank in the Ice-fields of the South.' Taking 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 109 

title, eh ? But seriously, I know we can't all go to Beauregard ; and 
there'll be fighting enough all round before it 'holds up.' God bless 
you ! We'll meet somewhere ; if not before, when I come down in 
the fall to show you the new stars on my collar ! " 

Thus "Co. F" went into the campaign. Its record there is 
history. So is that of many another like it. 

As I have tried to show, this spirit pervaded the whole South to 
an almost universal extent. Companies like these, scattered among 
the grosser material of the army, must have been the alloy that gave 
to the whole mass that true ring which will sound down all history ! 
The coarse natures around could but be shamed into imitation, when 
they saw the delicately nurtured darlings of society toiling through 
mud knee deep, or sleeping in stiffening blankets, without a murmur! 
And many a charge has been saved because a regiment like the P^irst 
Virginia or the Alabama Third walked straight into the iron hail, as 
though it had been a carnival pelting ! 

The man who tells us that blood has little effect must have read 
history to very little purpose ; or have looked very carelessly into the 
glass that Nature hourly holds up to his view. 

Wyatt was right when he said " there was nothing doing " socially. 
But there was much doing otherwise. The war was young yet, and 
each household had its engrossing excitement in getting its loved ones 
ready for the field. The pets of the ball-room were to lay aside broad- 
cloth and kids; and the pump-soled boots of the "german " were to 
be changed for the brogan of the camp. 

The women of the city were too busy now to care for society and 
its frippery ; the new objects of life filled every hour. The anxieties 
of the war were not yet a twice-told tale, and no artificial excitements 
were needed to drive them away. The women of Virginia, like her 
men, were animated with a spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice. 
Mothers sent their youngest born to the front, and bade them bear 
their shields, or be found under them ; and the damsel who did not 
bid her lover " God speed and go ! " would have been a finger point 
and a scoff. And the flags for their pet regiments — though many a 
bitter tear was broidered into their folds — were always given with the 
brave injunction to bear them worthily, even to the death ! 

The spirit upon the people — one and all — was " The cause — not 



no Fottr Years in Rebel Capitals. 

\is ! " and under the rough gray, hearts beat with as high a chivalry 

as- - 

*' In the brave, good days of old, 
When men for virtue and honor fought 

In serried ranks, 'neath their banners bright, 
By the fairy hands of beauty wrought, 
And broidered with *God and Right! '" 



F,oicr Years in Rebel Capitals. in 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE BAPTISM OF BLOOD. 



On the afternoon of June lo, 1861, Richmond was thrown into a 
commotion — though of a different nature — hardly exceeded by that 
exciting Sabbath, " Pawnee Sunday." Jubilant, but agitated crowds 
collected at the telegraph offices, the hotels and the doors of the War 
Department, to get the news of the first fight on Virginia soil. 

That morning the enemy had pressed boldly forward, in three heavy 
columns, against Magruder's lines at Big Bethel Church. He had 
been sharply repulsed in several distinct charges, with heavy loss, by 
D. H. Hill's regiment — the first North Carolina, and two guns of the 
Richmond Howitzers, commanded by Major John W. Randolph — 
afterward Secretary of War. 

Naturally there was great and deep rejoicing over this news in all 
quarters and from all classes. None had expected a different general 
result ; for the confidence in Magruder's ability at that time, and in 
the pluck of his troops, was perfect; but the ease and dash with 
which the victory had been achieved was looked upon as the sure pre- 
sage of great success elsewhere. 

Although the conduct of the fight had been in the hands of 
Colonel D. H. Hill — afterward so well known as a staunch and hard 
fighting officer — and his North Carolinians had illustrated it by more 
than one act of personal daring ; still the cannon had done the main 
work and it was taken as a Richmond victory. 

The small loss, too, where the home people had been so deeply 
interested, added a cheering glow to the news that nothing else could 
have given. Bowed and venerable men, little girls and tremulous 
old women spoke of the fight "we won." And why not? Were 
not their sons, and husbands, and brothers, really a part of them? 

It was curious to see how prone the women were to attribute the 
result to a special interposition of Divine aid, and to share the laurels, 
gathered that bright June day, with a higher Power than rested in a 
Springfield rifle, or a 12-pr. howitzer. 



112 



Four Years in Rebel Capital^. 



" Don't you tell me one word, cap'n ! " I heard an old lady ex- 
claim in great ire, at the door of the War Department, ' ' Vxov'i-doice is 
a-fightin' our battles for us ! The Lord is with us, and thar's his hand- 
writin'— ^k-j-/ as plain ! " 

"Don't say nothin' agin' that, marm," answered the western cap- 
tain, with Cromwellian sagacity; "but ef we don't help Providence 
powerful hard we ain't agoin' ter win ! " 

There was a perfect atmosphere of triumph all over the state. 
Troops lying in camp began to get restless and eager to go at once — 
even half-prepared as many of them were — to the front. Perfect 
confidence in the ability of the South to beat back any advance had 
been before the too prevalent idea of army and people ; and the ease 
of the victory added to this conviction a glow of exultation over the 
invincibility of the southern soldier. 

But the confidence begotten by the result had, as yet, a beneficial 
rather than a bad effect. Enlistments were stimulated and camps of 
instruction vied with each other in energy of preparation and close 
attention to drill. Every soldier felt that the struggle might be fierce, 
but would certainly be short ; and the meanest private panted to have 
his share in the triumphant work while there was yet a chance. The 
women worked harder than ever ; and at every sewing-circle the story 
of the fight was retold with many a glowing touch added by skillful 
narration. And while soft eyes flashed and delicate cheeks glowed at 
the music of the recital, needles glanced quicker still through the 
tough fabric for those " dear boys ! " 

Along the other army lines, the news from IMagruder's inspired 
the men with a wild desire to dash forward and have their turn, be- 
fore the whole crop of early laurels was gathered. An aide on Gen- 
eral Beauregard's staff" came down from Manassas a few days after 
Bethel, in charge of prisoners ; and he told me that the men had been 
in a state of nervous excitement for an advance before, but now were 
so wild over the news, it was hard to restrain them from advancing 
of their own accord. 

The clear-headed generals in command, however, looked over the 
flash and glitter of the first success, to the sterner realities beyond ; 
and they drew the bands of discipline only tighter — and administered 
the wholesome tonic of regular drill — the nearer they saw the ap- 
proach of real work. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 113 

The Goyernment, too, hailed the success at Bethel as an omen of 
the future ; but rather that it tested the spirit of the troops and their 
ability to stand fire, than from any solid fruits of the fight. They 
understood that it was scarcely a check to the great advance to be 
made; and though perhaps not " only a reconnaissance that accom- 
plished its intention," as the Federal officers declared, it was yet only 
the result of such a movement. True, eighteen hundred raw troops, 
never under fire, had met more than double their number and fought 
steadily and well from nine o'clock till two ; and had, besides, ac- 
complished this with the insignificant loss of one killed and seven 
wounded ! 

But this was not yet the test that was to try how fit they were to 
fight for the principles for which they had so promptly flown to arms. 
The great shock was to come in far different form ; and every nerve 
was strained to meet the issue when made. 

The Ordnance Department had been organized, and already 
brought to a point of efficiency, by Major Gorgas — a resigned officer 
of the United States Artillery ; and it was ably seconded by the Tre- 
degar Works. All night long the dwellers on Gamble's Hill saw their 
furnaces shine with a steady glow, and the tall chimneys belch out 
clouds of dense, luminous smoke into the night. At almost any hour 
of the day, Mr. Tanner's well-known black horses could be seen at 
the door of the War Department, or dashing thence to the foundry, 
or one of the depots. As consequence of this energy and industry, 
huge trains of heavy guns, and improved ordnance of every kind, 
were shipped off" to the threatened points, almost daily, to the full 
capacity of limited rolling stock on the roads. The new regiments 
were rapidly armed ; their old-style muskets exchanged for better 
ones, to be in their turn put through the improving Tredegar process. 
Battery equipments, harness works, forges — in fact, all requirements 
for the service — were at once put in operation under the working 
order and system introduced into the bureaux. The efficiency of the 
southern artillery — until paralyzed by the breaking down of its horses 
— is sufficient proof how this branch was conducted. 

The Medical Department — to play so important and needful a 
part in the coming days of blood — was now thoroughly reorganized 
and placed on really efficient footing. Surgeons of all ages — some 
of first force and of highest reputation in the South — left home and 



114 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

practice, to seek and receive positions under it. These, on passing 
examination and receiving commission, were sent to points where 
most needed, with full instructions to prepare to the utmost for the 
comfort of the sick and wounded. Medicines, instruments, stretch- 
ers and supplies of all sorts were freely sent to the purveyors in the 
field — where possible, appointed from experienced surgeons of the 
old service ; while the principal hospitals and depots in Richmond 
were put in perfect order to receive their expected tenants, under the 
personal supervision of the Surgeon-General. 

The Quartermaster's Department, both for railroad transportation 
and field service, underwent a radical change, as experience of the 
early campaign pointed out its imperfections. This department is 
the life of the army — the supplies of every description must be re- 
ceived through its hands. Efficiently directed, it can contribute to 
the most brilliant results, and badly handled, can thwart the most 
perfectly matured plans of genius, or generalship. 

Colonel A. C. Myers, who was early made Acting Quartermaster- 
General, had the benefit of the assistance and advice of an able 
corps of subordinates — both from the old service and from the active 
business men of the South; and, whatever may have been its later 
abuses, at this time the bureau was managed with an efficiency and 
vigor that could scarcely have been looked for in so new an organiza- 
tion. 

The Commissariat alone was badly managed from its very incep- 
tion. Murmurs loud and deep arose from every quarter against its 
numerous errors and abuses ; and the sagacity of Mr. Davis — so en- 
tirely approved elsewhere — was in this case more than doubted. 
Colonel Northrop had been an officer of cavalry, but for many years 
had been on a quasi sick-leave, away from all connection with any 
branch of the army — save, perhaps, the paymaster's office. The rea- 
son for his appointment to, perhaps, the most responsible bureau of 
the War Department was a mystery to people everywhere. 

Suddenly the news from Rich Mountain came. It fell like a 
thunderbolt from the summer sky, that the people deluded them- 
selves was to sail over them with never a cloud ! The flood-tide of 
success, upon which they had been floating so gaily, was suddenly 
dammed and flowed back upon them in surges of sullen gloom. 

The southern masses are essentially mercurial and are more given 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 115 

to sudden extremes of hope and despondency than any people in the 
world — except, perhaps, the French. Any event in which they are 
interested can, by a partial success, carry them up to a glowing en- 
thusiasm, or depress them to zero by its approach to failure. The 
buzz and stir of preparation, the constant exertion attending it and 
their absorbing interest in the cause, had all prepared the people, 
more than ordinarily even, for one of these barometric shiftings. The 
news from Bethel had made them almost wild with joy and caused an 
excessive elation that could ill bear a shock. The misfortune at Rich 
Mountain threw a corresponding gloom over the whole face of affairs ; 
and, as the success at Bethel had been overrated from the Potomac to 
the Gulf, so this defeat was deemed of more serious importance than 
it really was. 

This feeling in Richmond was much aggravated by her own pecul- 
iar loss. Some of her best men had been in the fight, and all that 
could be learned of them was that they were scattered, or shot. Gar- 
nett was dead; the gallant DeLagnel was shot down fighting to the 
last ; and Pegram was a prisoner — the gallant regiment he led cut up 
and dispersed! 

Only a few days before, a crowd of the fairest and most honored 
that Richmond could boast had assembled at the depot to bid them 
God speed ! Crowds of fellow soldiers had clustered round them, 
hard hands had clasped theirs — while bright smiles of cheer broke 
through the tears on softest cheeks; and, as the train whirled off and 
the banner that tender hands had worked — with a feeling "passing 
the love of woman " — waved over them, wreathed with flowers, not a 
heart was in the throng but beat high with anticipation of brave deed 
and brilliant victory following its folds. 

Scarcely had these flowers withered when the regiment — shattered 
and beaten — was borne down by numbers, and the flag itself sullied 
and torn by the tramp of its conquerors. And the shame of defeat 
was much heightened to these good people, by the agonies of sus- 
pense as to the fate of their loved ones. It was three days after the 
news of the disaster reached the War Department before the death of 
Garnett was a certainty ; and longer time still elapsed ere the minor 
casualties were known. When they did come, weeping sounded 
through many a Virginia home for its stay, or its darling, stark on the 
distant battle-field, or carried into captivity. 



ii6 Four Years in Kcbi-/ Capitals. 

The details of the fight were generally and warmly discussed, but 
with much more of feeling than of knowledge of their real bearings. 
Public opinion fixed the result decidedly as the consequence of want 
of skill and judgment, in dividing the brigade at a critical moment. 
There was a balm in the reflection, however, that though broken and 
beaten, the men had fought well in the face of heavy odds ; and that 
their officers had striven by every effort of manhood to hold them to 
their duty. General Garnett had exposed himself constantly, and 
was killed by a sharp-shooter at Carrock's Ford — over which he had 
brought the remnant of his army by a masterly retreat — while holding 
the stream at the head of a small squad. Pegram fought with gal- 
lantry and determination. He felt the position untenable and had 
remonstrated against holding it ; yet the admirable disposition of his 
few troops, and the skill and courage with which he had managed 
them, had cost the enemy many a man before the mountain was won. 
Captured and bruised by the fall of his horse, he refused to surrender 
his sword until an officer, his equal in rank, should demand it. De 
Lagnel cheered his men till they fell between the guns they could no 
longer work ; then seized the rammer himself and loaded the piece 
till he, too, was shot down. Wounded, he still fought with his pistol, 
till a bayonet thrust stretched him senseless. 

These brilliant episodes illustrated the gloomy story of the defeat ; 
but it still caused very deep and general depression. This was only 
partly relieved by the news that followed so closely upon it, of the 
brilliant success of General Price's army at Carthage. Missouri was 
so far away that the loudest shouts of victory there could echo but 
dimly in the ears at Richmond, already dulled by Rich Mountain. 
Still, it checked the blue mood of the public to some extent; and 
the Government saw in it much more encouragement than the people. 

There had been much doubt among the southern leaders as to the 
materiel of the western armies, on both sides. Old and tried officers 
felt secure, ceteris paribus, of success against the northern troops of 
the coast, or Middle States ; but the hardy hunters from the West and 
North-west were men of a very different stamp. The resources of 
the whole country had been strained to send into Virginia such an 
army in numbers and equipment as the preparation for invasion of 
her borders seemed to warrant. This had left the South and South- 
west rather more thinly garrisoned than all deemed prudent. The 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 117 

grounds for security in Virginia were that the mass of the southern 
troops were thoroughly accustomed to the use of arms and perfectly at 
home on horseback ; and no doubts were felt that the men of the North- 
eastern States, there opposed to them, were far below them in both 
requirements. The superior excellence of the latter in arms, equip- 
ment, and perhaps discipline, was more than compensated to the 
former by their greater familiarity with the arms they carried and 
their superiority of physique and endurance. Any advantage of 
numbers, it was argued, was made up by the fact of the invading 
army being forced to fight on the ground chosen by the invaded ; 
and in the excellence of her tacticians, rather more than in any ex- 
pected equality of numbers, the main reliance of the southern gov- 
ernment was placed. Hence it was full of confidence as to the result 
in the East. 

In the West, it was far different. There the armies of the United 
States were recruited from the hardy trappers and frontiersmen of 
the border; from the sturdy yeomen of the inland farms; and, in 
many instances, whole districts had separated, and men from ad- 
joining farms had gone to join in a deadly fight, in opposing ranks. 
Though the partisan spirit with these was stronger than with other 
southern troops — for they added the bitterness of personal hate to 
the sectional feeling — yet thinking people felt that the men themselves 
were more equally matched in courage, endurance and the knowledge 
of arms. 

It is an old axiom in war, that when the persotmel of armies is 
equal, victory is apt to rest with numbers. In the West, the United 
States not only had the numbers in their favor, but they were better 
equipped in every way ; and the only hope of the South was in the 
superiority of its generals in strategic ability. 

Thus, the fight at Carthage was viewed by the Government as a 
test question of deep meaning; and Sterling Price began at once to 
rank as a rising man. The general gloom through the country began 
to wear off, but that feeling of overweening confidence, in which the 
people had so universally indulged, was much shaken ; and it was 
with some misgivings as to the perfect certainty of success that they 
began to look upon the tremendous preparations for the Virginia 
campaign, to which the North was bending its every effort, under the 
personal supervision of General Scott. The bitterness that the mass 



iiS Four Years in Kcbci Capiia/s. 

of the people of the South — especially in Virginia — felt against that 
officer did not affect their exalted opinion of his vast grasp of mind 
and great military science. The people, as a body, seldom reason 
deeply upon such points ; and it would probably have been hard to 
find out why it was so ; but the majority of his fellow-statesmen cer- 
tainly feared and hated "the general" in about an equal degree. 
It was a good thing for the South that this was the case; and that 
the mighty " On to Richmond !*' — the clang of which was resounding 
to the farthest limits of the North and sending its threatening echoes 
over the Potomac — was recognized by them as a serious and deter- 
mined attempt upon the new Capital. 

Every fresh mail, through " the blockade," brought more and more 
astounding intelligence of these vast preparations. Every fresh cap 
that was exploded, every new flag that was broidered, was duly chron- 
icled by the rabid press. The editors of the North seemed to have 
gone military mad ; and when they did not dictate plans of battles, 
lecture their government and bully its generals, they told wondrous 
stories of an army that Xerxes might have gaped to see. 

All the newspaper bombast could easily be sifted, however ; and 
private letters from reliable sources of intelligence over the Potomac 
all agreed as to the vast scale and perfection of arrangement of the 
onward movement. The public pulse in the South had settled again 
to a steady and regular beat ; but it visibly quickened as the time of 
trial approached. 

And that time could not be long delayed ! 

The army of Virginia was in great spirits. Each change of posi- 
tion — every fresh disposition of troops — told them that their leaders 
expected a fight at any moment ; and they panted for it and chafed 
under the necessary restraints of discipline, like hounds in the leash. 

"When General Johnston took command of the "Army of the 
Shenandoah '' at Harper's Ferry, he at once saw that with the small 
force at his command the position was untenable. To hold it, the 
heights on both sides of the river commanding it would have to be 
fortified, and a clear line of communication maintained with his base. 

General McClellan, with a force equal to his, was hovering about 
Romney and the upper Valley, ready at any moment to swoop down 
upon his flank and make a junction with Patterson, who was in his 
front, thus crushini; him between them. Patterson was threatening 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 119 

Winchester, at which point he would be able to cut Johnston's sui>- 
plies and at the same time effect his desired junction with McClellan. 

To prevent this, about the middle of June, General Johnston 
evacuated Harper's Ferry, destroying the magazines and a vast 
amount of property, and fell back to Winchester. Then, for one 
month, Patterson and he played at military chess, on a field ranging 
from Winchester to Martinsburg, without advantage on either side. 
At the end of that time — on the 15th of July — the former made his 
grand feint of an advance, which Colonel Jeb Stuart — who was scout- 
ing in his front — declared to be a real movement ; warning General 
Johnston that the blow was at last to fall in earnest. This warning 
the clear-headed and subtle tactician took in such part, that he at 
once prepared to dispatch his whole force to Manassas to join Beau- 
regard. Well did General Scott say, "Beware of Johnston's re- 
treats ; " for — whatever the country may have thought of it at the 
time — the retreat from Harper's Ferry culminated in the battle of 
Manassas ! 

Meanwhile, in Richmond the excitement steadily rose, but the 
work of strengthening the defenses went steadily on. Fresh troops 
arrived daily — from the South by cars — from the West by railroad 
and canal ; and from the country around Richmond they marched in. 
Rumors of the wildest and most varied sort could be heard at any 
hour. Now Magruder had gained a terrible victory at Big Bethel, 
and had strewn the ground for miles with the slain and spoils ! Then 
Johnston had met the enemy at Winchester and, after oceans of blood, 
had driven him from the field in utter rout ! Again Beauregard had 
cut McDowell to pieces and planted the stars-and-bars over Alexan- 
dria and Arlington Heights ! Such was the morbid state of the pub- 
lic mind that any rumor, however fanciful, received some credit. 

Each night some regiments broke camp noiselessly and filed 
through the streets like the army of specters that 

" Beleaguered the walls of Prague," 
to fill a train on the Central, or Fredericksburg road, en route for Ma- 
nassas. Constantly, at gray dawn the dull, rumbling sound, cut 
sharply by the clear note of the bugle, told of moving batteries; and 
the tramp of cavalry became so accustomed a sound, that people- 
scarcely left their work even to cheer the wild and rugged-looking 
horsemen passing by. 



I20 Four Ycaj-s in Rebel Capitals. 

Then it began to be understood, all over the country, that the great 
advance would be over the Potomac; that the first decisive battle 
would be joined by the Army of the Shenandoah, or that of Manas- 
sas. 

A hushed, feverish suspense — like the sultry stillness before the 
burst of the storm — brooded over the land, shared alike by the peo- 
ple and government. 

My old friend — the colonel of the ' ' Ranche " and ' ' Zouave " mem- 
ory — was stationed at Richmond headquarters. Many were the 
tribulations that sorely beset the soul of that old soldier and club- 
man. He had served so long with regulars that he could not get ac- 
customed to the irregularities of the "mustangs," as he called the 
volunteers ; many were the culinary grievances of which he relieved 
his rotund breast to me ; and numerous were the early bits of news 
he confidentially dropped into my ear, before they were known else- 
where. 

The evening of the i8th of July — hot, sultry and threatening 
rain — had been more quiet than usual. Not a rumor had been set 
afloat ; and the monotony was only broken by a group of officers 
about the "Spotswood" discussing Bethel, Rich Mountain and the 
chances of the next fight. One of them, with three stars on his col- 
lar, had just declared his conviction : 

'* It's only a feint, major ! McDowell is too old a soldier to risk a 
fight on the Potomac line — too far from his base, sir ! He'll amuse 
Beauregard and Johnston while they sweep down on Magruder. I 
want 7ny orders for Yorktown. Mark my words ! What is it, adju- 
tant ? " The colonel talked on as he opened and read a paper the 
lieutenant handed him — "Hello! Adjutant, read that! Boys, I'm 
off for Manassas to-night. Turning my back on a fight, by !" 

Just then I felt a hand on my shoulder ; and turning, saw my 
colonel with his round face — graver than usual — near mine. The 
thought of some devilish invention in the pudding line flashed across 
me, but his first word put cooks and dinners out of my mind. 

"The ball's open, egad!" he said seriously. "We whipped 
McDowell's advance at Bull Run to-day, sir! Drove 'em back, sir! 
Did you hear that nmstang colonel ? Turning his back on a fight ! 
Egad, he'll turn his stomach on it before the week's out ! " 

It was true. How McDowell's right had essayed to cross at 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 121 

Blackburn's Ford ; how Longstreet's Virginians and the Washington 
Artillery met them ; and how, after a sharp fight, they retired and 
gave up the ford is too well known history to be repeated here. 

In an hour the news was public in Richmond and — though received 
with a deep, grave joy — braced every nerve and steadied every pulse in 
it. There was no distaste to face the real danger when it showed itself; 
it was only the sickening suspense that was unbearable. No one in the 
city had really doubted the result, from the first ; and the news from 
the prelude to the terrible and decisive fight, yet to come, but braced 
the people, as a stimulant may the fevered patient. 

The heavy pattering of the first drops had come, and the strained 
hush was broken. 

Beauregard telegraphed that the success of Bull Run was complete ; 
that his men had borne their baptism of fire, with the steadiness of 
veterans ; and that a few days — hours, perhaps — must bring the gen- 
eral assault upon his lines. 

He urged that every available man should be sent him ; and with- 
in twenty-four hours from the receipt of his despatch, there was not 
a company left in Richmond that had arms to carry him. 

Surgeons were sent up ; volunteer doctors applied by dozens for 
permission to go ; ambulance trains were put upon the road, in read- 
iness at a moment's warning. Baskets of delicacies and rare old wines 
and pure liquors ; great bundles of bandages and lint, prepared by 
the daintiest fingers in the **01d Dominion;" cots, mattresses and pil- 
lows — all crowded in at the medical purveyor's. Then Richmond, 
having done all she could for the present, drew a deep breath and 
waited. 

But she waited not unhopefully! 

Every eye was strained to Manassas plains ; every heart throbbed 
stronger at the mention of that name. All knew that there the giants 
were soon to clinch in deadly wrestle for the mastery ; that the strug- 
gle was now at hand, when the flag of the South would be carried 
high in triumph or trampled in the dust ! 

But no one doubted the true hearts and firm hands that had gath- 
ered there to uphold that banner ! 

No one doubted that, though the best blood of the South might 
redden its folds, it would still float proudly over the field — conse- 
crated, but unstained! 



122 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XV. 



AFTER MANASSAS. 



By noon on the 21st of July the quidnuncs found out that the Presi- 
dent had left that morning, on a special train and with a volunteer 
staff, for Manassas. This set the whole tribe agog, and wonderful 
were the speculations and rumors that flew about. By night, certain 
news came that the battle had raged fiercely all day, and the sun had 
gone down on a complete, but bloody, victory. One universal thrill 
of joy went through the city, quickly stilled and followed by the gasp 
of agonized suspense. The dense crowds, collected about all proba- 
ble points of information, were silent after the great roar of triumph 
went up at the first announcement. The mixed pressure of grave, 
voiceless thankfulness and strained anxiety, was too deep for words; 
and they stood still — expectant. 

By midnight the main result of the day's fight was known beyond 
a doubt ; how the enemy, in heavy masses, had attacked the Confed- 
erate left, and hurled it back and around, entirely flanking it ; how 
the raw troops had contested every inch of ground with stubborn 
valor, but still gave way until the change of front had made itself ; 
how the supports brought up from the right and center — where a force 
had to be maintained to face the masses threatening them — came only 
to meet fresh masses that they could only check, not break ; how the 
battle was at one time really lost ! 

When science had done all it could to retrieve the day, but the 
most obstinate even of the southern troops — after doing more than 
desperate courage and determined pluck could warrant — were break- 
ing and giving way, then the wild yell of Elzey's brigade broke 
through the pines like a clarion ! On came that devoted band, breath- 
less and worn with their run from the railroad ; eight hundred Mary- 
landers — and only two companies of these with bayonets — leading 
the charge ! On they came, their yells piercing the woods before 
they are yet visible; and, as if by magic, the tide of battle turned ! 
The tired, worn ranks, all day battered by the ceaseless hail of death, 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 123 

catch that shout, and answering it, breast the storm again ; regiment 
after regiment hears the yell, and echoes it with a wild swelling 
chorus ! And ever on rush the fresh troops — past their weary broth- 
ers, into the hottest of the deadly rain of fire — wherever the blue 
coats are thickest ! Their front lines waver — General Smith falls, but 
Elzey gains the crest of the plateau — like a fire in the prairie spreads 
the contagion of fear — line after line melts before the hot blast of that 
charge — a moment more and the "Grand Army" is mixed in a 
straining, struggling, chaotic mass in the race for life — the battle is 
won ! 

I have heard the fight discussed by actors in it on both sides; have 
read accounts from northern penny a-liners, and English correspond- 
ents whose pay depended upon their neutrality ; and all agree that 
the battle was saved by the advent of Kirby Smith, just at that criti- 
cal moment when the numbers of the North were sweeping resistlessly 
over the broken and worn troops of the South. Elzey's brigade no 
doubt saved the day, for they created the panic. 

"But I look upon it as a most causeless one," once said an Aus- 
trian officer to me, "for had the Federals stood but half an hour 
longer — which, with their position and supports, there was no earthly 
reason for their not doing — there could have been but one result. 
Smith's forces could not have held their own that much longer against 
overwhelming numbers ; and the weary troops who had been fighting 
all day could not even have supported them in a heavy fight. Had 
Smith reached the scene of action at morning instead of noon, he, 
too, might have shared the general fate, and a far different page of 
history been written. Coming as he did, I doubt not the battle turned 
upon his advent. The main difference I see," he added, " is that the 
Confederates were whipped for several hours and didn't know it ; but 
just as the Federals found it out and were about to close their hands 
upon the victory already in their grasp, they were struck witfi a panic 
and ran away from it ! " 

By midnight the anxious crowds in Richmond streets knew that 
the fight was over, 

" And the red field was won ! " 

But the first arrivals were ominous ones — splashed and muddy hos- 
pital stewards and quartermaster's men, who wanted more stretchers 
and instruments, more tourniquets and stimulants; and their stories 



124 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

threw a deeper gloom over the crowds that — collected at departments, 
hotels and depots — spoke in hushed whispers their words of solemn 
triumph, of hope, or of suspense. They told that almost every regi- 
ment had been badly cut up — that the slaughter of the best and bravest 
had been terrible — that the "Hampton Legion "was annihilated — 
Hampton himself killed — Beauregard was wounded — Kirby Smith 
killed — the first Virginia was cut to pieces and the Alabama troops 
swept from the face of the earth. These were some of the wild rumors 
they spread; eagerly caught up and echoed from mouth to mouth 
with a reliance on their truth to be expected from the morbid anxiety. 
No one reflected that these men must have left Manassas before the 
fighting was even hotly joined ; and could only have gained their di- 
luted intelligence from the rumors at way-stations. As yet the cant 
of camp followers was new to the people, who listened as though 
these terrible things must be true to be related. 

There was no sleep in Richmond that night. Men and women 
gathered in knots and huddled into groups on the corners and door- 
steps, and the black shadow of some dreadful calamity seemed brood- 
ing over every rooftree. Each splashed and weary-looking man was 
stopped and surrounded by crowds, who poured varied and anxious 
questioning upon him. The weak treble of gray-haired old men be- 
sought news of son, or grandson; and on the edge of every group, 
pale, beseeching faces mutely pleaded with sad, tearless eyes, for tid- 
ings of brother, husband, or lover. 

But there was no despairing weakness, and every one went sadly 
but steadily to work to give what aid they might. Rare stores of old 
wines were freely given ; baskets of cordials and rolls of lint were 
brought; and often that night, as the women leaned over the baskets 
they so carefully packed, bitter tears rolled from their pale cheeks 
and fell noiselessly on bandage and lint. For who could tell but that 
very piece of linen might bind the sore wound of one far dearer than 
life. 

Slowly the night wore on, trains coming in occasionally only to 
disappoint the crowds that rushed to surround them. No one came 
who had seen the battle — all had lieard what they related. And though 
nn man was, base enough to play upon feelings such as theirs, the 
love of common natures for being oracles carried them away; and 
they repeated far more even than that. Next day the news was more 



Fojir Years in Rebel Capitals. 125 

full, and the details of the fight came in with some lists of the wound- 
ed. The victory was dearly bought. Bee, Bartow, Johnson, and 
others equally valuable, were dead. Some of the best and bravest 
from every state had sealed their devotion to the flag with their blood. 
Still, so immense were the consequences of the victory now judged to 
be, that even the wildest rumors of the day before had not told one 
half. 

At night the President returned j and on the train with him were 
the bodies of the dead generals, with their garde dWiojineur. These 
proceeded to the Capitol, while Mr. Davis went to the Spotswood 
and addressed a vast crowd that had collected before it. He told 
them in simple, but glowing, language that the first blow for liberty 
had been struck and struck home ; that the hosts of the North had 
been scattered like chaff before southern might and southern right; 
that the cause was just and must prevail. Then he spoke words of 
consolation to the stricken city. Many of her noblest were spared ; 
the wounded had reaped a glory far beyond the scars they bore ; the 
dead were honored far beyond the living, and future generations 
should twine the laurel for their crown. 

The great crowd listened with breathless interest to his lightest 
word. Old men, resting on their staves, erected themselves ; reck- 
less boys were quiet and still ; and the pale faces of the women, fur- 
rowed with tears, looked up at him till the color came back to their 
cheeks and their eyes dried. Of a truth, he was still their idol. As 
yet they hung upon his lightest word, and believed that what he did 
was best. 

Then the crowd dispersed, many mournfully wending their way 
to the Capitol where the dead officers lay in state, wrapped in the 
flag of the new victory. An hour after, the rain descending in tor- 
rents, the first ambulance train arrived. 

First came forth the slightly wounded, with bandaged heads, arms 
in slings, or with painful limp. 

Then came ugly, narrow boxes of rough plank. These were ten- 
derly handled, and the soldiers who bore them upon their shoulders 
carried sad faces, too ; for happily as yet the death of friends in the 
South was not made, by familiarity, a thing of course. And lastly — 
lifted so gently, and suffering so patiently — came the ghastly burdens of 
the stretchers. Strong men, maimed and torn, their muscular hands 



126 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

straining the handles of the Utter with the bitter effort to repress 
complaint, the horrid crimson ooze marking tlie rough cloths thrown 
over them; delicate, fair-browed boys, who had gone forth a few 
days back so full of life and hope, now gory and livid, with clenched 
teeth and matted hair, and eyeballs straining for the loved faces that 
must be there to wait them. 

It was a strange crowd that stood there in the driving storm, lit 
up by the fitful flashes of the moving lanterns. 

The whole city was there — the rich merchant — the rough laborer 
— the heavy features of the sturdy serving-woman — the dusky, but 
loving face of the negro — -the delicate profile of the petted belle — all 
strained forward in the same intent gaze, as car after car was emptied 
of its ghastly freight. There, under the pitiless storm, they stood silent 
and still, careless of its fury — not a sound breaking the perfect hush, 
in which the measured tramp of the carriers, or the half-repressed 
groan of the wounded, sounded painfully distinct. 

Now and then, as a limping soldier was recognized, would come a 
rush and a cry of joy — strong arms were given to support him — ten- 
der hands were laid upon his hair — and warm lips were pressed to 
his blanched cheek, drenched with the storm. 

Here some wife, or sister, dropped bitter tears on the unconscious 
face of the household darling, as she walked by the stretcher where 
he writhed in fevered agony. There 

"The shrill-edged shriek of the mother divided the shuddering night,' 
as she threw herself prone on the rough pine box ; or the wild, 
wordless wail of sudden widowhood was torn from the inmost heart 
of some stricken creature who had hoped in vain! 

There was a vague, unconscious feeling of joy in those who had 
found their darlings — even shattered and manned ; an unbearable and 
leaden weight of agonizing suspense and dread hung over those who 
could hear nothing. Many wandered restlessly about the Capitol, 
ever and anon questioning the guard around the dead generals ; but 
the sturdy men of the Legion could only give kindly and vague 
answers that but heightened the feverish anxiety. 

Dav after day the ambulance trains came in bearing their sad bur- 
dens, and the same scene was ever enacted. Strangers, miles from 
home, met the same care as the brothers and husbands of Richmond ; 
and the meanest private was as much a hero as the tinseled officer. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 127 

It is strange how soon even the gentlest natures gain a famiharity 
with suffering and death. The awfuhiess and solemnity of the unac- 
customed sight loses rapidly by daily contact with it ; even though 
the sentiments of sympathy and pity may not grow callous as well. 
But, as yet, Richmond was new to such scenes ; and a shudder went 
through the whole social fabric at the shattering and tearing of the 
fair forms so well known and so dear. 

Gradually — very gradually — the echoes of the fight rolled into 
distance ; the wildest wailing settled to the steady sob of suffering, 
and Richmond went her way, with only here and there a wreck of 
manhood, or pale-faced woman in deepest mourning, to recall the 
fever of that fearful night. 

Though the after effect of Manassas proved undoubtedly bad, the 
immediate fruits of the victory were of incalculable value. Panic- 
struck, the Federals had thrown away everything that could impede 
their flight. Besides fifty-four pieces of artillery of all kinds, horses 
and mules in large numbers, ammunition, medical stores and miles of 
wagon and ambulance trains, near six thousand stand of small arms, 
of the newest pattern and in best condition, fell into the hands of 
the half-armed rebels. 

These last were the real prize of the victors, putting a dozen new 
regiments waiting only for arms, at once on an effective war-footing. 
Blankets, tents and clothing were captured in bulk ; nor were they 
to be despised by soldiers who had left home with knapsacks as 
empty as those of Falstaff's heroes. 

But the moral effect of the victory was to elate the tone of the 
army far above any previous act of the war. Already prepared not 
to undervalue their own prowess, its ease and completeness left a 
universal sense of their invincibility, till the feeling became common 
in the ranks — and spread thence to the people — that one southern 
man was worth a dozen Yankees ; and that if they did riot come in 
numbers greater than five to one, the result of any conflict was as- 
sured. 

Everything was going smoothly. The first rough outlines had been 
laid in, with bold effectiveness, a rosy cloud floated over the grim 
distance of the war ; and in the foreground — only brilliant and victo- , 
rious action. 

The Confederate loss, too, was much smaller than at first supposed, 



128 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

not exceeding eighteen hundred ; and many of the shghtly wounded 
began already to hobble about again, petted by the communities 
and justly proud of their crutches and scars. The Federal loss was 
harder to estimate. Many of their wounded had been borne away 
by the rush of the retreat ; the Government, naturally anxious to calm 
the public mind of the North, made incomplete returns ; while large 
numbers of uncounted dead had been buried on the field and along 
the line of retreat, both by the victorious army and country people. 
From the best data obtainable, their loss could not have been much 
short, if at all short, of five thousand. The army was satisfied, the 
country was satisfied, and, unfortunately, the Government was satis- 
fied. 

Among the people there was a universal belief in an immediate 
advance. The army that had been the main bulwark of the National 
Capital was rushing — a panic-stricken herd — into and beyond it ; the 
fortifications were perfectly uncovered and their small garrisons ut- 
terly demoralized by the woe-begone and terrified fugitives constantly 
streaming by them. The triumphant legions of the South were al- 
most near enough for their battle-cry to be heard in the Cabinet ; 
and the southern people could not believe that the bright victory that 
had perched upon their banners would be allowed to fold her wings 
before another and bloodier flight, that would leave the North pros- 
trate at her feet. Day after day they waited and — the wish being 
father to the thought — day after day the sun rose on fresh stories of an 
advance — a bloody fight — a splendid victory — or the capture of 
Washington. But the sun always set on an authoritative contradic- 
tion of them ; and at last the excitement was forced to settle down 
on the news that General Johnston had extended his pickets as far as 
Mason's and Munson's hills, and the army had gone into camp on 
the field it had so bloodily won the week before. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 129 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE SPAWN OF LETHARGY. 



Considering the surroundings, it seems inevitable that the lull after 
the first great victory should have been followed by reaction, all over 
the South ; and that reasons — as ridiculous as they were numerous — ■ 
should have been assigned for inaction that appeared so unwarranted. 

Discontent — at first whispered, and coming as the wind cometh — 
gradually took tongue ; and discussion of the situation grew loud and 
varied. One side declared that the orders for a general advance had 
been already given, when the President countermanded them upon 
the field, and sent orders by General Bonham to withdraw the pur- 
suit. Another version of this reason was that there had been a coun- 
cil of the generals and Mr. Davis, at which it was agreed that the 
North must now be convinced of the utter futility of persisting in in- 
vasion; and that in the reaction her conservative men would make 
themselves heard; whereas the occupation of Washington would in- 
flame the North and cause the people to rise as one man for the defense 
of their capital. An even wilder theory found believers ; that the war 
in the South was simply one of defense, and crossing the Potomac 
would be invasion^ the effect of which would retard recognition from 
abroad. Another again declared that there was a jealousy between 
Generals Johnston and Beauregard, and between each of them and 
the President, that prevented concert of action. 

The people of the South were eminently democratic and had their 
own views — which they expressed with energy and vim — on all sub- 
jects during the war; so these theories, to account for the paralysis 
after Manassas, were each in turn discussed, and each found warm 
defenders. But gradually it came to be generally conceded that none 
of them could be the true one. The President took no command on 
his visit to Manassas, for he reached the field only after the battle 
had been won and the flight commenced. Any suggestions that 
occurred to him were naturally made to General Johnston. There is 
good authority for stating that he did not m.ake any criticism on one 

9 



130 Four Years i)i Rebel Capitals. 

material point, stating to both generals that the whole plan, conduct 
and result of the battle met his fullest approval; and on reflection the 
whole people felt that their chief was too much a soldier to have com- 
mitted the gross breach of discipline indicated. The story of the 
council came to be regarded as a silly fabrication. The fear of in- 
flaming the North, coming on the heels of a complete and bloody 
victory, was about as funny as for a pugilist whose antagonist's head 
was " in chancery" to cease striking lest he should anger him ; and 
events immediately following JManassas showed there could be little 
jealousy or pique between the generals, or between them and the 
President. General Johnston, with the magnanimity of the true 
knight his whole career has shown him to be, declared that the credit 
of the plan and choice of the field of battle was due to General Beau- 
regard ; and Mr. Davis' proclamation on the success was couched in 
language that breathed only the most honest commendation of both 
generals and of their strategy. The fear of invasion prejudicing opin- 
ion abroad was as little believed as the other stories, for — outside of 
a small clique — there grew up at this time all over the South such a 
perfect confidence in its strength and its perfect ability to work its 
own oracle, that very little care was felt for the action of Europe. 
In fact, the people were just now quite willing to wait for recognition 
of their independence by European powers, until it was already 
achieved. So, gradually the public mind settled down to the true 
reasons that mainly prevented the immediate following up of the victory. 
A battle under all circumstances is a great confusion. With raw 
troops, who had never before been under fire, and who had been 
all day fiercely contending, until broken and disordered, the con- 
fusion must necessarily have been universal. As they broke, or fell 
back, brigade overlapped brigade, company mixed with company, 
and officers lost their regiments. The face of the country, covered 
with thick underbrush, added to this result ; so that when the enemy 
broke and the rout commenced, it was hard to tell whether pursuers 
or pursued were the most disorganized mass. The army of Manas- 
sas was almost entirely undisciplined, and liad never before felt 
the intoxication of battle. On that terrible day it had fought 
with tenacity and pluck that belonged to the race; but it had 
largely been on the principle prevalent at weddings in the " ould 
country" — when you see a head, hit it! The few officers who de- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 131 

sired a disciplined resistance soon saw the futility of obtaining it, 
and felt that as the men, individually, were fighting bravely and 
stubbornly, it were better only to hold them to that. When the pur- 
suit came, the men were utterly worn and exhausted ; but, burning 
with the glow of battle, they followed the flying masses fast and far 
— each one led by his own instincts and rarely twenty of a company 
together. 

A major-general, who left his leg on a later field, carried his com- 
pany into this fight. During the pursuit he led it through a by-path 
to intercept a battery spurring down the road at full speed. They 
overtook it, mastered the gunners and turned the horses out of the 
press. In the deepening twilight, he turned to thank the company, 
and found it composed of three of his own men, two " Tiger Rifles," 
a Washington artilleryman, three dismounted cavalry of the " Le- 
gion," a doctor, a quartermaster's clerk, and the Rev. Chaplain of 
the First ! 

This was but a specimen of the style of the pursuit. There was 
but little cavalry — one regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart and 
a few single companies. No one brigade could be collected in any- 
thing like order; night was deepening and the enemy's flight was 
approaching what was reasonably supposed to be his reserve. Under 
these circumstances it was apparent that prudence, if not necessity, 
dictated calling in the pursuit by the disordered troops. General Bon- 
ham — the ranking officer in front — saw this plainly ; and on his own 
authority gave the order that appeared most proper to him. I never 
heard that, at this time, it was objected to by his superior officers. 

Mor«over, it was not only the demoralization caused by the pursuit 
that was sufficient reason for not following up Manassas. The 'army, 
ordinarily, was not in a condition to advance into an enemy's coun- 
try, away from its regular communications. In the first place, there 
was no transportation, and the arms were bad. It was a work of 
time to utilize the spoils ; to distribute arms where most needed; to put 
the captured batteries in condition for use ; and to replace with the 
splendid ambulances and army wagons, that had been prepared for 
the holiday march to Richmond, the hastily and clumsily-constructed 
ones already in use ; and to so give out the captured horses as best 
to utilize them. This latter was of the utmost moment before an 
advance could be attempted. The Confederates were shorter of 



132 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

transportation — even of defective character — than of anything else ; 
and for days after the fight the flood-gates of heaven seemed to stand 
open, to dehige the country around Manassas until it became a perfect 
lake of mud. Roads already bad were washed into gullies; holes 
generally knee-deep became impassable. It is perfectly easy, there- 
fore, to understand why, for a week after the battle, delay was neces- 
sary ; but as week after week passed, and there was still no forward 
movement, it ceased to be strange that the people should murmur, 
and ask why it was the army was satisfied with laurels easily won when 
fresh ones were within its grasp. All felt that veteran officers 
handling raw troops had to be more careful in their management, 
and to count more closely before putting them into the new and 
dangerous position of an invading army, than would meet with the 
concurrence of a populace naturally ardent and doubly heated by 
triumph. 

But it is equally true that for ten days after the battle, Washington 
lay perfectly at the mercy of the South ; and by that time the army of 
Manassas was in better condition than could be expected later; and 
it was anxious to move forward. 

But the auspicious moment was not seized ; time was given for 
the broken fragments of the Union army to be patched again mto 
something like organization. Fresh forts and earthworks were hastily 
thrown up; a perfect chain of defenses formed around Washington, 
and strongly garrisoned. The pickets of the opposing armies were 
near enough to exchange constant shots, and even occasional "chaff." 

Still there was no movement ; the summer wore away in utter in- 
activity. The camp at Orange Courthouse began to be looked upon 
as a stationary affair ; while the usual difficulties of camp life — aggra- 
vated by the newness of the troops and the natural indisposition of 
the southron to receive discipline — began to show themselves. The 
army at this time was principally composed of the better educated 
and better conditioned class, who were the first to volunteer ; and as I 
have already said, many of the privates were men of high position, 
culture and wealth. Thus composed, it was equal to great deeds of 
gallantry and dash. Elan was its characteristic — but it was hard to 
reduce to the stratified regularity of an army. Napier has laid down 
as an axiom that no man is a good soldier until he has become a per- 
fect machine. He must neither reason nor think — only obey. Critics, 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 133 

perhaps equally competent, in reviewing the Crimean war, differ from 
this and declare the main advantage of the French troops over the 
Russian was a certain individuality — a pride in themselves and their 
army that had been entirely drilled out of their stolid adversaries. Be 
this as it may, the esprit de corps of the Frenchman was in his corps 
only as such ; and he would no more have discussed the wisdom, or 
prudence of any order — even in his own mind — than he would have 
thought of disobeying it. 

The steady-going professional men who sprung to arms throughout 
the South could face a deadly fire, without blenching, for hours ; but 
they could not help reasoning, with nothing to do for twenty hours out 
of every twenty-four. 

The gay young graduates of the promenade and ball-room could 
march steadily, even gaily, into the fiery belching of a battery, but 
they could not learn the practice of unreasoning blindness; and the 
staunch, hard-fisted countryman felt there was no use in it — the 
thing was over if the fighting was done — and this was a waste of time. 
Nostalgia — that scourge of camps — began to creep among the latter 
class ; discontent grew apace among the former. Still the camp was 
the great object of interest for miles around ; there were reviews, 
parades and division dinners ; ladies visited and inspected it, and 
some even lived within its lines; but the tone of the army went down 
gradually, but steadily. During the summer more than one of Beau- 
regard's companies — though of the best material and with a brilliant 
record — had to be mustered out as " useless and insubordinate." Ex- 
cellence in drill and attention to duty both decreased ; and it was felt 
by competent judges that rust was gradually eating away the fabric of 
the army. This was certainly the fault to a great extent of the offi- 
cers, though it may, in part, have been due to the men themselves. 
In the beginning these had tried honestly to choose those among them 
best fitted for command; but likie all volunteers, they fell into the 
grave error of choosing the most popular. Almost all candidates for 
office were equally eligible and equally untried ; so personal consider- 
ations naturally came into play. Once elected, they did their duty 
faithfully, in the field ; but were either too weak, or too inexperienced, 
to keep the strict rules of discipline applied during the trying inactivity 
of camp ; and they were too conscious of the social and mental 
equality of their men to enforce the distinction between officer and 



134 ■ Four Years tn Rebel Capitals. 

private, without which the command loses half its weight. In some 
instances, too, the desire for popularity and for future advancement 
at the hands of friends and neiglibors introduced a spirit of dem- 
agogism hurtful in the extreme. 

For these combined reasons the army of Manassas, which a few 
weeks before had gone so gaily " into the jaws of death," began rap- 
idly to mildew through warp and woof; and the whole texture seemed 
on the point of giving way. 

Thoughtful men — who had waited calmy and coolly when the first 
burst of impatience had gone up — began now to ask why and how 
long this lethargy was to continue. They saw its bad effects, but be- 
lieved that at the next blast of the bugle every man would shake off 
the incubus and rise in his might a patriot soldier ; they saw the steady 
stream of men from North and West pouring into Washington, to be 
at once bound and held with iron bands of discipline — the vast prep- 
aration in men, equipments, supplies and science that the North was 
using the precious days granted her to get in readiness for the next 
shock. But they felt confident that the southern army — if not 
allowed to rust too long — would again vindicate the name it had won 
at Manassas. 

These thinkers saw that some branches of the Government still 
kept up its preparations. Throughout the length of the land found- 
ries were going up, and every improvement that science or experi- 
ence could suggest was making in the construction of arms and ammu- 
nition ; water-power, everywhere off the line of attack, was utilized 
for powder-mills and rope-walks ; every cloth factory in the country 
was subsidized ; and machinery of great variety and power was being 
imported on Government account. Over Richmond constantly hung 
a dense cloud of coal smoke ; and the incessant buzz of machinery 
from factories, foundries and lathes, told of increased rather than 
abated effort in that branch of the Government. Then, too, the 
most perfect confidence was felt in the great strategic ability of Gen- 
eral Johnston — who had already found that high level in the opinion 
of his countrymen, from which neither the frowns of government, the 
combination of cliques, nor the tongues of slanderers could afterward 
remove him. 

They believed, too, in the pluck and dash of Beauregard; and, 
combining this with the outside activity, evident in every direction. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 135 

felt there must be good and sufficient reason for the — to them — inex- 
plicable quiet about the Potomac. 

But perhaps the very worst feature was the effect of the victory 
upon the tone of the people at large. The very tongues that had 
wagged most impatiently at the first delay — that had set in motion the 
wild stories by which to account for it — had been the first to become 
blatant that the North was conquered. The minutest details of the 
fight were carried over the land, repeated at country courts and am- 
plified at bar-room assemblages, until the common slang was every- 
where heard that one Southron was equal to a dozen Yanks. Instead 
of using the time, so strangely given by the Government, in making 
earnest and steady strides toward increasing the army, improving its 
morale and adding to its supplies, the masses of the country were 
upon a rampage of boastfulness, and the notes of an inflated triumph 
rang from the Potomac to the Gulf. 

In this regard the effect of the victory was most injurious; and 
had it not been for the crushing results — from a strategic point of 
view — that would have followed it, partial defeat might have proved 
a blessing in its place. 

The one, while it threw a gloom over the country, would have 
nerved the people to renewed exertion and made them look steadily 
and unwaveringly at the true dangers that threatened them. The 
other gave them time to fold their hands and indulge in a compla- 
cency, ridiculous as it was enervating. 

They ceased to realize the vast resources of the Union in men, 
money and supplies ; and more than all, they underrated the dogged 
perseverance of Yankee character. It was as though a young boxer, 
in a deadly conflict with a giant, had dealt a staggering blow; and 
while the Titan braced his every muscle for a deadlier gripe, the 
weaker antagonist wasted his time lauding his strength and feeling 
his biceps. 

Meantime, the keen, hard sense of the Washington Government 
wasted no time in utilizing the reaction on its people. The press 
and the public clamored for a victim, and General Scott was thrown, 
into its maw unhesitatingly. The old hero was replaced by the new, 
and General McClellan — whose untried and inexperienced talent 
could hardly have augured his becoming, as he did, the best general 
of the northern army — was elevated to his place to please the "dear 
public." 



136 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

The rabid crowds of men and men-women — whose prurient curi- 
osity had driven them to follow the great on-to-Richmond, with hopes 
of a first view of the triumphant entry of the Grand Army— soon 
forgot their uncomfortable and terrified scramble to the rear. They 
easily changed their whine of terror to a song of triumph ; and New 
England Judiths, burning to grasp the hair of the Holofernes over 
the Potomac, pricked the flagging zeal of their male companions. 

The peculiar error that they were fighting for the Union and the 
flag — so cruelly dissipated of late — threw thousands into the ranks ; 
heavy bounties and hopes of plunder drew many more ; and the still 
frequent interstices were filled with many an Irish-German amalgam, 
that was supposed to be peculiarly good food for powder. 

And so the summer wore on, the demoralizing influence of the 
inaction in the camps of the South increasing toward its close. The 
affair at Leesburg, occurring on the 20th of October, was another 
brilliant success, but equally barren of results. It showed that the 
men would still fight as readily and as fiercely, and that their officers 
would lead them as gallantly, as before ; it put a few hundred of the 
enemy hors dc combat and maintained "the right of way" by the 
river to the South. But it was the occasion for another shout of 
triumph — perfectly incommensurate with its importance — to go up 
from the people ; and it taught them still more to despise and un- 
derrate the power of the government they had so far successfully 
and brilliantly defied. 

Elsewhere than on the Potomac line, the case had been a little 
different. Magruder, on the Peninsula, had gained no success of note. 
A few unimportant skirmishes had taken place and the Confederate 
lines had been contracted — more from choice than necessity. But 
the combatants were near enough — and respected each other enough 
— for constant watchfulness to be considered necessary ; and, though 
the personnel of the army was, perhaps, not as good as that of the 
Potomac, in the main its condition was better. 

At Norfolk nothing had been done but to strengthen the defenses. 
General Huger had striven to keep his men employed ; and they, at 
least, did not despise the enemy that frowned at them from Fort Mon- 
roe, and frequently sent messages of compliment into their camps 
from the lips of the "Sawyer gun." The echo of the pjeans from 
Manassas came back to them, but softened by distance and tempered 
bv their own experience — or want of it. 



Four Years iii Rebel Capitals. 137 

In Western Virginia there had been a dull, eventless campaign, of 
strategy rather than action. General Wise had taken command on 
the first of June, and early in August had been followed by General 
John B. Floyd — the ex-U. S. Secretary of War. 

These two commanders unfortunately disagreed as to means and 
conduct of the campaign ; and General R. E. Lee was sent to take 
general command on this — his first theater of active service. His man- 
agement of the campaign was much criticised in many quarters ; and 
the public verdict seemed to be that, though he had an army of twenty 
thousand men, tolerably equipped and familiar with the country, 
Rosecrans out-manceuvered him and accomplished his object in amus- 
ing so considerable a Confederate force. Certain it is that, after 
fronting Lee at Big Sewell for ten or twelve days, he suddenly with- 
drew in the night, without giving the former even a chance for a 
fight. 

The dissatisfaction was universal and outspoken ; nor was it re- 
lieved by the several brilliant episodes of Gauley and Cotton Hill, 
that General Floyd managed to throw into his dark surroundings. 

It is hard to tell how much foundation the press and the public 
had for this opinion. There had been no decisive disaster, if there 
had been no actual gain ; and the main result had been to maim men 
and show that both sides would fight well enough to leave' all collis- 
ions matters of doubt. 

It may not here be out of place to correct a false impression that 
has crept into the history of the times regarding General Floyd. The 
courteous press of the North — and not a few political enemies who 
felt safety in their distance from him — constantly branded him as 
"traitor" and "thief." They averred that he had misused his posi- 
tion and betrayed the confidence reposed in him as U. S. Secretary 
of War, to send government arms into the South in view of the ap- 
proaching need for them. Even General Scott — whose position must 
have given him the means of knowing better — reiterates these calum- 
nies, the falsity of which the least investigation exposed at once. 

Mr. Buchanan, in his late book, completely exonerates General 
Floyd from this charge; and the committee to whom it was referred 
reported that of 10,151 rifles distributed by him in i860, the Southern 
and South- Western states received only 2,849! 

Followed by the hate of one government to receive the coldness 



138 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

of the other, John B. Floyd still strove with all his strength for the 

cause he loved. 

"After life's fitful fever he sleeps well" 

in his dear Virginia soil ; and whatever his faults — whatever his.errors 
— no honest man, North or South, but must rejoice that his enemies 
even acquitted him of this one. 

Then the results elsewhere had not been very encouraging when 
compared with the eastern campaign ; though Sterling Price had man- 
aged to more than hold his own against all obstacles, and Jeff Thomp- 
son had been doing great things with little means in south-western 
Missouri. 

Still, since Rich Mountain, no serious disaster had befallen Con- 
federate arms, and the people were fain to be satisfied. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 139 



CHAPTER XVII. 



FROM COURT TO CAMP. 



The winter of '61-2 set in early, with heavy and continued rains. 
By Christmas the whole surface of the country had been more than 
once wrapped in heavy snow, leaving lakes of mud over which no 
wheeled thing could work its way. 

Active operations — along the whole northern frontier at least — 
were certainly suspended until spring; and both armies had gone 
into winter quarters. Military men agree that a winter in camp is 
the most demoralizing influence to which any troops can be sub- 
jected. To the new soldiers of the South it was a terrible ordeal 
— not so much from the actual privations they were called upon to 
endure as from other and more subtle difficulties, against the imper- 
ceptible approaches of which they could not guard. The Govern- 
ment had used every effort to make the men comfortable, and to 
supply them with all necessaries at its disposal ; but still there were 
numerous articles it could not command. 

The good caterers at home spared no pains, no exercise of in- 
genuity, and no pinching from fireside supplies, to make the loved 
ones in camp comfortable. The country had not begun to feel the 
effects of actual want in any quarter ; but increased demand had 
lessened supplies on hand and somewhat enhanced prices ; so the men 
were comfortably clothed, fed with plain, but plentiful and wholesome 
food, and supplied with all the absolute necessaries of camp life. 
In addition to these, boxes of all sizes, shapes and contents came 
into the camps in a continuous stream; and the thousand nameless 
trifles — so precious because bearing the impress of home — were re- 
ceived daily in every mess from the Rio Grande to the Potomac. 
Still, as the winter wore on, news from the armies became gloomier 
and gloomier, and each successive bulletin bore more dispiriting ac- 
counts of discontent and privation, sickness and death. Men who 
had gone into their first fight freely and gaily ; who had heard the 
whistling of bullets as if it had been accustomed music, gave way 
utterly before the unseen foes of " winter quarters." 



140 Four Years in Kclui Caf^Ha/s. 

Here and there, a disciplinarian of tlie better sort — who com- 
bined pliilosopliy witli strictness— kept his men in mther better con- 
dition by constant watching, frequent and regular drills, rapid 
marches for exercise, and occasional change of camp. But this 
was the exception, and the general tone was miserable and gloomy. 
This could in part be accounted for by tlie inexperience of the 
men, and of their in\mediate commanders — the comj^any officers — 
in whose hands their health and spirits were in no small degree re- 
posed. They could not be brought to the use of those little appli- 
ances of comfort that camp life, even in the most unfavorable cir- 
cumstances, can aflord — strict attention to the utmost cleanliness in 
their persons and huts; care in the jncpaiation oi their food, and in 
its cookery ; and careful adherence to the simjile hygienic rules laid 
down in constant circulars from the medical and other depart- 
ments. Whore men live and sleep in semi-fro/en mud. and breathe 
an atmosphere of mist and brush smoke — and every one knows the 
wonderfully jtenetrating power of camp-fire smoke — it is not to be 
expected that their comfort is enviably great ; especially where 
thev have left comfortable homos, and changed their well-jnepared, 
if simple, food for the hard and innutritions army ration. But such 
creatures of habit are we that, after a little, we manage by in-oper 
care to make even that endurable. 

Soldiers are like children, and require careful watching and con- 
stant reminding that these small matters — which certainly make up the 
sum of camp life — should be carefully attended to for their own good. 
Rigid discipline in their enforcement is necessary in the beginning 
to get novices properly started in the grooves. Once set going, they 
soon become matters of course. But once let soldiers get accustomed 
to careless and slovenly habits, and no amount of orders, or punish- 
ment, can undo the mischief. Unfortunately, the armies of the South 
began wrong this first winter, and the descent was easy ; and they 
made the new road upon which thoy had entered far harder than 
necessary, by neglecting landmarks so plainly written that he who runs 
mav read. Nosfirloa — that scourge of camps — appeared in stubborn 
and alarming form ; and no exertion of surgeon, or general, served to 
check or decrease it. Men. collected from cities, accustomed to 
stated hours of business and recreation, and whose minds were accus- 
tomed to some exercise and excitement, naturally drooj-'ed in the 



Foicr Years in Rebel Capitals. 141 

monotony of a camp knee in mire, where the only change from the 
camp-fire —with stew-pan simmering on it and long yarns spinning 
around it — was heavy sleep in a damp hut, or close tent, wrapped in 
a musty blanket and lulled by the snoring of half a dozen comrades. 

Hale, sturdy countrymen, accustomed to regular exercise and hard 
work, with nothing to do all day but sun themselves and polish their 
bayonets, naturally moped and joined for the homes that were missing 
them so sorely. They, too, found the smoky blaze of the camp-fire 
but a sorry substitute for the cheerful hearth, where memory pictured 
the comely wife and the sturdy little ones. The hardy mountaineer, 
pent and confined to a mud-bound acre, naturally molded and pant- 
ed for the fresh breezes and rough tramps of his far-away "roost." 

The general morality of the camps was good, but praying is a sor- 
ry substitute for dry homes and good food; and, though chaplains 
were earnest and zealous, the men gradually found cards more excit- 
ing than exhortations. They turned from the " wine of life" to the 
canteen of "new dip" with a spiteful thirst. There were attempts 
by the higher officers — which proved abortive — to discountenance 
gambling; and the most stringent efforts of provost-marshals to pre- 
vent the introduction of lifjuor to camp reduced the r|uantity some- 
what, but brought down the fjuality to the grade of a not very slow 
poison. 

Being much in the numerous camps that winter, I was struck with 
the universal slouch and depression in ranks where the custom had 
been quick energy and cheerful faces. Through the whole army was 
that enervating moldiness, lightened only by an occasional gleam 
from those "crack companies " so much doubted in the beginning of 
the war. 

It had been thought that the gay young men of cities, used to the 
sedentary life of profession, or counting-room — and perhaps to the 
irregularities of the midnight dinner and next-morning ball — that 
these men, steady and unflinching as they might be under fire — and 
willing as they seemed to undertake "what man dare" in danger or 
privation, would certainly break down under the fatigues of the first 
campaign. 

They had, on the contrary, in every instance that came under my 
ken, gone through that campaign most honorably ; had borne the 
.marches, the most trying weather and the greatest straits of hunger. 



142 Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 

with an elasticity of mind and muscle that had long since astounded 
and silenced their most active scoffers. Now, in the bitter depths of 
winter, they went through the dull routine of camp, cheerful and 
buoyant, at all times ready for their duty, and never grumbling at the 
wearing strain they felt to be necessity. When I say that in every 
Confederate camp the best soldiers of that winter were "crack com- 
panies " of the gay youths of the cities, I only echo the verdict of old 
and tried officers. Where all did their duty nobly, comparison were 
invidious; but the names of *' Company F," the Mobile Cadets, the 
Richmond Blues, and Washington Artillery, stand on the record of 
those dark days as proof of the statement. Many men from the 
ranks of these companies had already been promoted to high posi- 
tions, but they had not yet lost their distinctive characteristics as corps 
d' elite ; and admission to their ranks was as eagerly sought as ever. 
A strange fact of these companies was frequently stated by surgeons 
of perfect reliability: their sick reports were much smaller than those 
of the hardiest mountain organizations. This they attributed to two 
causes : greater a^^ention to personal cleanliness and to all hygienic 
precautions; and the exercise of better trained minds and wills keep- . 
ing them free from the deadly " blue devils." Numbers of them, of 
course, broke down at once. Many a y^oox fellow who would have 
achieved a brilliant future perished mid the mud of INIanassas, or 
slept under the snowy slopes of the western mountains. The practice 
was kill or cure, but it was in a vast majority of cases, the latter; and 
men who stood the hardship thrived upon it. 

The Marylanders, too, were a marvel of patience. Self-made 
exiles, not only from the accustomed comforts of home, but cut off 
fr-om communication with their absent ones and harrowed by vague 
stories of wrong and violence about them — it would have been nat- 
ural had they yielded to the combined strain on mind and matter. 
At midwinter I had occasion to visit Evansport and Acquia creek. 
It had been bitter cold; a sudden thaw had made the air raw and 
keen, while my horse went to his girths at every plunge. More 
than once I had to dismount in mire girth-deep to help him on. Sud- 
denly I came upon a Maryland camp — supports to a battery. Some 
of the soldiers I had known as the gayest and most petted of ball- 
room and dub ; and now they were cutting wood and frying bacon, 
as if they had never done anything else. Hands that never before 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 143 

felt an ax-helve plied it now as if for life; eyes that were accus- 
tomed to look softly into 

" The sweetest eyes that ever were," 
in the pauses of a waltz, now peered curiously in the reeking stew- 
pan. Many of their names recalled the history of days long gone, 
for their father's fathers had moved in stately pageant down its 
brightest pages ; and blood flowed in their veins blue as the proud- 
est of earth's nobility. They had left affluence, luxury, the caresses 
of home — and, harder than all, the habits of society — for what ? 

Was it thoughtlessly to rush foremost in the delirious shock of 
battle ; to carelessly stand unflinchingly where the wing of death 
flapped darkest over the glare of the fight; to stand knee-deep in 
•Virginia mud, with high boots and rough shirts, and fry moldy 
bacon over fires of wet brush? Or was it that the old current in 
their veins bounded hotly when they believed a wrong was doitig ; 
that all else — home — luxury — love — life! — faded away before the 
might of principle ? 

It was an odd meeting with the crowd that collected about me 
and anxiously asked the news from Richmond, from abroad, but 
above all, from home. Bronzed and bearded, their huge boots 
caked with 'Potomac mud and rough shirts open at their sunburnt 
throats; chapped hands and faces grimy with smoke and work, 
there was yet something about these men that spoke them, at a 
glance, raised above the herd. John Leech, who so reveled in the 
" Camps at Cobham," would here have found a companion-piece for 
the opposition of the picture. 

" Hello, old boy ! any news from home ? '* yelled a whiskered ser- 
geant, jumping from a log where he was mending a rent in his pants, 
and giving me a hand the color of his favorite tan gloves in days 
lang syne — " Pretty tight work up here, you see, but we manage to 
keep comfortable ! " — God save the mark ! 

"What do you think Bendann would give for a negative of me?" 
asked a splendid fellow leaning on an ax, the rapid strokes of which 
he stilled at my approach — "Not a half bad thing for a fancy ball, 
eh ? " Charles street had no nattier man than the speaker in days 
gone ; and the tailors had found him their pearl beyond price. But 
Hilberg's best was now replaced by a flannel shirt with many a rent, 
army pants and a jacket that had been gray, befoi-e mud and smoke 
had brought it near the unity of Joseph's best garment. 



144 FoKK Ytars in Rchd Capitals. 

" I'd show well at the club — portrait of a gentleman?" he added 
lightly. 

"Pshaw! Look at »u- 1 There's a boot lor a junior assembly! 
Wouldn't that make a show on a waxed floor ? " and little Charley H. 
grinned all the way across his fresh, fair face, as he extended a foot 
protruding from what had been a boot. 

"D — 1 take your dress! Peel those onions, Charley!" cried a 
baldheaded man from the tire — " Don't your heart rise at the scent of 
this olla, my boy ? Don't it bring back our dinners at the Spanish 
legation ? Stay and dine with us — if Charley ever has those onions 
done — and you'll feast like a lord-mayor! By the way, last letters 
from home tell me that Miss Belle's engaged to John Smith. You 
remember her that night at Mrs. R.'s fancy ball?" 

" Wouldn't mind having a bottle of Mrs. R.'s sherry now to tone 
up these onions," Charley said ruefully. " It would go well with that 
stew, taken out of a tin cup — eh, cookey?" 

" We had lots better at the club," the cook said, thoughtfully 
stirring the mess on the fire — "• It was laid in before you were born, 
Charley. Those were days, boys — but we'll drink many a bottle of it 
yet under the stars and bars ! " 

"That we will, old man! and I'll carry these boots to a junior 
assembly yet. But I ^vould like a bottle of old Mrs. R.'s to drink 
now, faute dc iiiieux, to the health of the Baltimore girls — God bless 
'em ! " 

" That I would, too," said the sergeant. " But that's the hard part 
of it!" — and he stuck his needle viciously through the pants — "I 
always get savage when I think of our dear women left unpro — " 

" No particular one, sergeant ? You don't mean Miss Mamie on 
Charles street, do you? Insatiate archer!" cried Charley. 

" Do your cooking, you imp ! I mean my dear old mother and 
my sick sister. D — n this smoke ! It will get in a fellow's eyes ! " 

When Miss Todd gave her picnic in the valley of Jehoshaphat and 
talked London gossip under the olives, it was an odd picture ; it 
is strange to see the irrepressible English riding hurdles in the 
Campagna. and talking of ratting in the shadow of the Parthenon, as 
though within the beloved chimes of Bow ; but it was stranger still to 
see those roughened, grimed men, with soleless boots and pants 
tattered "as if an imp had worn them," rolling out town-talk and 
well-known names in such j^erfectly natural manner. 



Four Years iJi Rebel Capitals. 145 

And this was only a slice from any camp in the service. The 
gentlemen troops stood hardships better, and bore their troubles and 
difficulties with lighter hearts, than any of the mixed corps. It is 
true that few of them were left as organizations at the end of the 
war. 

As the army increased, men of ability and education naturally 
sifted to higher place; but they wore their spurs after they had won 
them. They got their commissions when they had been through the 
baptism of blood and fire, and of mud and drudgery as well. They 
never flinched. The dreariest march — the shortest rations — ihe deep- 
est snow and the midnight " long roll " — found them ready and will- 
ing. History furnishes no parallel. The bloods of the cavalier wars 
rode hard and fought long. They went to the battle with the jest 
upon their lips, and walked gaily to the scaffold if need be. But 
they not only died as gentlemen — they lived as they died. Their 
perfumed locks were never draggled in the mire of the camp, and 
their silken hose never smirched but in the fray. Light songs from 
dainty lips and brimming goblets from choice flac oris were theirs; 
and they could be merry to-night if they died to-morrow. 

The long rapiers of the Regency flashed as keen in the smoke of 
the fight as the jest had lately rung in the mistress' bower ; and how 
the blase club man and the lisping dandy of Rotten Row could change 
to the avenging war god, the annals of the "Light Brigade" can 
tell. 

But these lived as gentlemen. In the blackest hour, when none 
believed "the king should have his own again;" in the deadliest 
fray and in the snow-bound trench, they waved the sword of com- 
mand, and the only equality they had with their men was who should 
fight the furthest. 

But here were gentlemen born — men of worth and wealth, educa- 
tion and fashion — delving side by side with the veriest drudge; fight- 
ing as only gentlemen can fight, and then working as gentlemen 
never worked before ! 

Delicately bred youths who had never known rougher work than 
the deux temps, now trudged through blinding snows on post, or slept 
in blankets stiff with freezing mud ; hands that had felt nothing harder 
than billiard-cue or cricket-bat now wielded ax and shovel as men 
never wielded them for wages; the epicure of the club mixed a steam- 
ing stew of rank bacon and moldy hard-tack and then — ate it ! 



146 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

And all this they did without a murmur, showing an example of 
steadfast resolution and unyielding pluck to the hardier and tougher 
soldiers by them ; writing on the darkest page of history the clear 
axiom : Bon sang ne pent mentir! 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 147 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



SOCIETY AT THE CAPITAL. 



But while everything was dull and lifeless in the camps of the 
South, a far different aspect was presented by its Capital. There 
was a stir and bustle new to quiet Richmond. Congress had 
brought crowds of attaches and hangers-on ; and every department 
had its scores of dependents. Officers from all quarters came in 
crowds to spend a short furlough, or to attend to some points of in- 
terest to their commands before the bureaux of the War Depart- 
ment. The full hotels showed activity and life unknown to them. 
Business houses, attracted by the increased demands of trade and 
the new channels opened by Government necessities, sprang up on all 
sides; and the stores — though cramped by the blockade — began to 
brush off their dust and show their best for the new customers. 
Every branch of industry seemed to receive fresh impetus; and 
houses that had for years plodded on in moldy obscurity shot, with 
the rapidity of Jonah's gourd, up to first-class business. 

The streets presented a scene of unwonted activity ; and Franklin 
street — the promenade par excellence, vied with "the avenue" in the 
character and variety of the crowds that thronged its pavement. 
The majority of the promenaders were officers, their uniforms con- 
trasting brightly with the more quiet dresses around. While many 
of them were strangers, and the peculiarities of every State showed 
in the faces that passed in rapid panorama, yet numbers of "Rich- 
mond boys" came back for a short holiday; almost every one bring- 
ing his laurels and his commission. 

My friend, Wyatt, had kept his laughing promise, and showed me 
a captain's bars. General Breckinridge had found him hiding in the 
ranks, and had added A. A. G. to his title. 

"Knew it, old man!" was his comment — "Virtue must be re- 
warded — merit, like water, will find its level. Captain Wyatt, A. A. 
O. — demnition neat, eh ? Now, I'll be here a month, and we must 



148 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

do something in the social line. I find the women still industry 
mad; but the sewing-circles get up small dullabihties — ' danceable 
teas,' as papa Uodd abroad calls them. They're not splendid to a 
used-up man, like you — not Paris nor yet Washington, but they'll 
show you our people." 

And Wyatt was right. The people of Richmond had at first held 
up their hands in holy horror at the mere mention of amusement ! 
What ! with a war in the land must people enjoy themselves ? 
Never ! it would be heartless ! 

But human nature in Virginia is pretty much like human nature 
everywhere else ; and bad as the war was, people gradually got used 
to "the situation." They had lost friends — a relation or two was 
pretty badly marked perhaps — but what glory the tens and hundreds 
left had gained ! 'I'here was no fighting now ; and the poor fellows in 
camp would be only too glad to know that their brothers-in-arms were 
being paid for their toils by the smiles of the fair. The great major- 
ity of the strangers, too, were young men who had been recom- 
mended to the mercy of the society by these very sufferers in 
camp. 

Gradually these influences worked — the younger and gayer people 
indulged in the " danceable teas," Wyatt spoke of, after their sewing- 
circles. Imperceptibly the sewing was left for other times; and by 
Christmas there was a more constant — if less formal and general — 
round of gaiety than had been known for years. This brought the 
citizens and strangers more together, and naturally the result was a 
long season of more regular parties and unprecedented gaiety. Many 
still frowned at this, and, as usual, made unhappy Washington the 
scapegoat — averring that her pernicious example of heartlessness and 
frivolity had worked the evil. 

These rigid Romans staid at home and worked on zealously in 
their manufacture of warm clothing, deformed socks and impossible 
gloves for the soldier boys. All honor to them for their constancy, 
if they thought they were right, and the harmless gaiety wrong ; and 
they fought the good fight, from behind their <j'/w//j of knitting needles, 
only with the innocent weapons of tongue and precept. But human 
nature and inclination still held their own ; and there were many de- 
fections from the ranks of the elect, to those of the more practical — 
and probably equally well-intentioned — pleasure-seekers. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 149 

But parties were by no means the only resource for pleasure-lovers. 
Anything that combined amusement and put dollars in the treasuries 
of charitable societies became the rage; and here the rigidly virtuous 
and the non-elect met on neutral ground. Among the amateurs of the 
city were some who would have taken high rank in any musical circle, 
and these gave a series of concerts for the benefit of distressed fami- 
lies of the soldiers. The performers were the most fashionable of ihe 
society ; and, of course, the judgment of their friends — who crowded 
to overflowing the churches where the concerts were held — was not 
to be relied on. But critics from New Orleans and all parts of the 
South declared the performances creditable to any city. After them 
the audience broke uj) into little cliques and had the jolliest little 
suppers the winter produced, with the inevitable "lancers" until the 
smallest of small hours. 

Then, there were charades and tableaux parties ; while a few — 
more ambitious of histrionic fame — got up private theatricals. Alto- 
gether, in the gay set, the first winter of the war was one to be writ- 
ten in red letters, for old Richmond rang with a chime of merry 
laughter that for the time drowned the echo of the summer's fights 
and the groans of the wayside hospitals. 

One unique point in the society of Richmond struck me with 
a constantly recurring surprise. I could not get accustomed to the 
undisputed supremacy of the unmarried element that almost entirely 
composed it. It constantly seemed to me that the young people had 
seized the society while their elders' heads were turned, and had run 
away with it for a brief space ; and I ahvays looked to see older 
people come in, with reproof upon their brows, and take charge of it 
again. But I looked in vain. One day at a dinner, I remarked this 
to my next neighbor; suggesting that it was only because of the war. 
She was one of the most charming women the society could boast — 
scarcely more than a bride, just out of her teens, beautiful, accom- 
plished and very gay. 

"Strangers always remark this," she answered; "but it is not the 
result of the war, or of the influx of strangers, as you suppose. Since 
I can remember, only unmarried people have been allowed to go 
to parties by the tyrants of seventeen who control them. We mar- 
ried folks do the requisite amount of visiting and teaing-out; and 
sometimes even rise in our wrath and come out to dinner. But as for 



15° Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

a party — no! As soon as a girl is married, she must make up her 
mind to pay her bridal visits, dance a few weeks upon sufferance and 
then fold up her party dresses. No matter how young, how pretty, or 
how pleasant she may be, the Nemesis pursues her and she must 
succumb. The pleasant Indian idea of taking old people to the river 
bank and leaving them for the tide, is overstrictly carried out by our 
celibate Brahmins. Marriage is our Ganges. Don't you wonder how 
we ever dare to declare ourselves old enough ?" 

I did wonder; for it had always been a hobby of mine that a 
certain amount of the married leaven was necessary in every society 
to give it tone and stamina. Though the French principle of exclud- 
ing young ladies from all social intercourse, and giving the patent of 
society to Madame, may be productive of more harm than good, the 
converse seems equally objectionable. I can recollect no society in 
which some of the most pleasant memories do not center around the 
intercourse with its married portion. Richmond is no exception to 
the rule. In the South, women marry younger than in the colder 
states; and it often happens that the very brightest and most attract- 
ive points of character do not mature until an age when they have 
gotten their establishment. The education of the Virginia girl is so 
very different in all essential points from that of the northerner of the 
same station, that she is far behind her in self-reliance and aplomb. 
There is, doubtless, much in native character, but more in early 
surroundings and the habit of education. The southerner, more 
lanquid and emotional, but less self-dependent — even if equally " up 
in " showier accomplishments — is not formed to shine most at an 
early stage of her social career. Firmer foothold and more intimate 
knowledge of its intricacies are necessary to her, before she takes her 
place as a woman of the world. 

Hence, I was much puzzled to account for the patent fact that the 
better matured of its flowers should be so entirely suppressed, in the 
Richmond bouquet, by the half-opened buds. These latter, doubt- 
less, gave a charming promise of bloom and fragrance when they 
came to their full ; but too early they left an effect of immaturity and 
crudity upon the sense of the unaccustomed. Yet Richmond had 
written over the portals of its society : Who enters here no spouse 
must leave behind! and the law was of the Medan. A stranger 
within their urates had no ri^ht to cavil at a time-honored custom; 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 151 

but not one could spend a winter week in the good old town, and fail 
to have this sense of unfinishedness in her society fabric. 

The fair daughters of the Capital are second to none in beauty, 
grace and the higher charm of pure womanhood. Any assembly 
showed fresh, bright and gentle faces, with constant pretty ones, and 
an occasional marked beauty. There is a peculiar, lithe grace, 
normal to the South, that is hard to describe ; and, on the whole, 
even when not beautiful, there is a je ne sais quoi that renders her 
women very attractive. 

The male element at parties ranged from \ki^ passe beau to the boy 
with the down still on his cheek — ancient bachelors and young 
husbands alike had the open sesame. But if a married lady, 
however young in years or wifehood, passed the forbidden limits by 
accident — Vce victis ! 

She was soon made to feel that the sphere of the mated was 
pantry or nursery — not the ball-room. To stranger dames — if young 
and lively — ^justice a little less stern was meted; but even they, after 
a few offenses, were made to feel how hard is the way of the trans- 
gressor. 

In a community like Richmond, where every one in the circle had 
played together in childhood, or was equally intimate, such a state of 
things might readily obtain. In a larger city, never. It spoke 
volumes for the purity and simplicity of the society that for years it 
had gone on thus, and no necessity for any matronage had been felt. 
But now the case was different — a large promiscuous element of 
military guests was thrown into it; and it struck all that society must 
change its primitive habit. 

The village custom still prevailed in this — a gentleman could 
call for a lady — take her in his charge alone and without any chaper- 
one — to a party and bring her back at the " we sma' hours." This 
was not only well, as long as the ' ' Jeanette and Jenot " state of society 
prevailed, but it told convincingly the whole story of the honest truth: 
of men and women. But with the sudden influx — when a wolf might 
so readily have imitated the guise of the lamb — a slight hedge of 
form could in no manner have intimated a necessity for it. Yet Rich- 
mond, in the proud consciousness of her simple purity, disdained all 
such precautions ; and the informalities of the country town obtained 
in the salons of the nation's Capital. 



152 Four Years in Jui'c/ Or/y/'/a/s. 

But parties were not the only hosiMtalities the wanderers received 
at the hands of the Virginians. In no state in the country one be- 
comes domesticated so soon as in the Old Dominion. You may come 
to any of its towns a perfect stranger, but with a name known to one 
prominent citizen, or fortified with a few letters from the right 
source, and in a time astonishingly short you find yourself at home. 
This has been time out of mind Virginian custom ; and as Richmond 
is but a condensation of all that is Virginian, it prevailed here as well. 
If the stranger did not give himself up to the whirl and yield himself, 
" rescue or no rescue," to the lance of the unmarried, he could find, 
behind the chevaiix de fnse o{ clashing knitting-needles, the most genial 
welcome and most whole-souled hospitality. 

" Stupid party last night — too full," criticised Wyatt, as he lounged 
in my room one morning. " You seemed bored, old man, though I 
saw you with Nell H. Desperate flirt — pretty, too ! But take my 
advice; let her alone. It don't pay to flirt." — The ten years between 
the captain and myself were to viy credit on Time's ledger — "It's 
all very well to stick up your pennon and ride gaily into the lists to 
break a lance with all comers. Society cries laisscz allfrl and her 
old dowagers shower lar§;esse. Presto ! my boy, and you find your 
back on the grass and your heels in the air. But I've some steady- 
going cousins I want to introduce you to. Suit you exactly." 

Confound the boy! Where did he get that idea? But I was in- 
troduced to the "steady-going cousins" and to me now the Rich- 
mond of memory begins and ends in their circle. The jovial, pleasant 
family dinner around the old-time board ; the consciousness of ready 
welcome to the social fireside, or partake of the muftni at eight, or the 
punch — brewed very near Father Tom's receipt — at midnight. Then 
the never-to-be-forgotten coterie of the brightest women of the day 
under the shaded droplight, in the long winter evenings! And 
none were excluded by the " steady goers" because they had com- 
mitted matrimony. They did cpiantities of work that season ; baskets 
of socks, bales of shirts and boxes of gloves, in numbers marvelous 
to see, went from that quiet circle to warm the frozen hands and feet, 
keeping watch and ward for them. And tlie simple words of cheer 
and love that went with them must have warmed hearts far colder 
than beat under the rough shirts they sent. 

And never did the genial current of talk — sometimes chatty, some- 



I'our Years in Rt.bcl Capilals. 153 

times brilliant — fl.ig for a moment. 'I'he foremorst men of govern- 
ment and army were admitted, and I doubt if ever the most ardent 
of the unmarried — willing in the lancers, or delifjucscing in the deux 
temps — found very much more genuine enjoyment than the *' easy 
goers," over their distorted socks and impracticable gloves. 

They talked of books, events and people, and no doubt gossiped 
hugely; Ijut though some of the habitues were on the shady side of 
thirty and were sedately walking in the quiet parts of spinsterhood, 
I never heard one bitter — far less one scandalous, word! 

Ferat qui meruit paltnam! Let the green leaves adorn those won- 
derful women ! 

But the novelty most remarked in the society of this winter was 
the household of President Davis. Soon after the Government was 
firmly established in Richmond, the State of Virginia placed at his 
disposal a plain but comfortable house ; and here — with only the 
ladies of his family and his private secretary — he lived with the quiet 
simplicity of a private citizen. 

It will hardly be invading her sacra privata to say that the Presi- 
dent's lady did everything to remove false ideas that sprung up re- 
garding the social atmosphere of the " Executive Mansion." She 
was "at home " every evening; and, collecting round her a staff 
that numbered some of the most noted men and brilliant women both 
of the stranger and resident society, assured all her varied guests a 
warm welcome and a jjleasant visit. In this circle Mr. Davis would, 
after the trying business of the day, give himself an hour's relaxation 
before entering on labors that went far into the night; and favored 
friends and chance visitors alike here met the man, where they ex- 
pected the official. 

Austere and thoughtful at all times, rarely unbending to show the 
vein of hum.or hidden deep under his stern exterior, and having be- 
sides ''the divinity that doth hedge" even a republican president, 
Mr. Davis was never calculated for personal popularity. Even in 
the early days of his career he forced by his higher qualities — rather 
than sought by the arts of a trickster — the suffrages of his people ; 
and they continued to cast their shells for hirn, even while they 
clamored that he was "the Just." 

Whatever grave errors reflecting criticisms may lay at his door ; 
whatever share in the ruin of the South, the future historians may 



154 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

ascribe to his unswerving self-will and unvarying faith in his own 
power — no one who traces his career from West Point to the New 
Saint Helena — will call them failings of the demagogue. 

In these informal receptions of his lady, Mr. Davis said little; 
listening to the varied flow of talk that showed her equally cogni- 
zant and appreciative of social, literary and sterner topics. For the 
edification of the gayer visitor, she related odd experiences of her 
public life, with rare power of description and admirable flashes of 
humor. She discussed the latest book with some of the small litter- 
ateurs with whom she was infested ; or talked knowingly of the last 
picture, or the newest opera, faint echoes from which might elude 
the grim blockaders on the coast. 

Mr. Davis spoke little, seeming to find a refreshing element in 
her talk, that — as she pithily said of some one else — was like tea, 
that cheers but not inebriates. Occasionally he clinched an argu- 
ment, or gave a keener point to an idea by a short, strong sentence. 

After all had partaken of the cup of tea handed round informally, 
Mr. Davis retired to his study and once more donned his armor for 
battle with the giants without and the dwarfs within his territory. 

These informal " evenings" began to grow popular with the bet- 
ter class of Virginians, and tended to a much more cordial tone 
between the citizens and their chief. They were broken by bi- 
monthly *' levees," at which Mr. and Mrs. Davis received "the 
world and his wife." 

But the formal "levee" was a Washington custom and smacked 
too much of the " old concern" to become very popular, although 
curiosity to see the man of the hour and to assist at an undress review 
of the celebrities of the new nation, thronged the parlors each fort- 
night. A military band was always in attendance ; the chiefs of 
cabinet and bureaux moved about the crowd; and generals — who 
had already won names to live forever — passed, with small hands 
resting lightly on their chevrons, and bright eyes speaking most elo- 
quently that old truism about who best deserve the fair. 

More than once that winter General Johnston moved through the 
rooms — followed by all eyes and calling up memories of subtle strat- 
egy and hard-won victory. Sometimes the burly form of Longstreet 
appeared, ever surrounded by those "little people" in whom he de- 
lighted ; and the blonde beard of Hood — whose name already began 



Four Years in Rebel Capilals. 155 

to shine with promise of its future brilliance — towered over the 
throng of leading editors, "senior wranglers " from both houses of 
Congress, and dancing men wasting their time in the vain effort to 
talk. 

But not only the chosen ten thousand were called. Sturdy arti- 
sans, with their best coats and hands scrubbed to the proper point of 
cleanliness for shaking the President's, were always there. Moneyed 
men came, with speculation in their eyes, and lobby members trying 
to throw dust therein ; while country visitors — having screwed their 
courage up to the desperate point of being presented — always dropped 
Mr. Davis' hand as if its not over-cordial grasp burned them. 

But the "levees" on the whole, if odd exhibitions, were at least 
useful in letting the ''dear public" have a little glimpse of the inner 
workings of the great machine of government. And they proved, 
even more than the social evenings, the ease of right with which 
Varina Howell Davis wore her title of '' the first lady in the land." 

The men of Richmond have spoken for themselves. They wrote 
the history of their class when they came forward — one and all, to 
sacrifice ease — affluence — life for the cause they felt to be just. 
There were some, as I shall hereafter endeavor to show, who were 
dwellers with them, but were not of them. These did nothing and gave 
nothing willingly for a cause in which they saw only a speculation. 
This is not the place to speak of such. They belong not to the goodly 
company of those who — whatever their weaknesses, or even their 
errors — proclaimed themselves honest men and chivalric gentlemen. 

The young men of the whole South are off-hand and impulsive; 
either naturally careless in pecuniary matters, or made so by habit. 
Sowing wild oats is an almost universal piece of farming; and the 
crop is as luxuriant in the mountains of Virginia as in the overflowed 
lands of Louisiana. 

Perhaps in Richmond they were not now seen from the most ad- 
vantageous point of view. They were generally young planters from 
the country, reckless, jovial and prone to the lighter dissipations ; or 
the young business and professional men, who rebounded from the 
routine of their former lives into a little extra rapidity. One and all 
— for the eyes they sought would not have looked upon them else — 
they had gone into the army ; had fought and ^vrought well ; and 
now with little to do, boon companionship and any amount of 



156 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

petting, they were paying for it. The constant strain of excitement 
produced much dissipation certainly — but it seldom took the repre- 
hensible form of rowdyism and debauch. Some men drank deeply — 
at dinners, at balls and at bar-rooms ; some gambled, as Virginians 
always had gambled — gaily, recklessly and for ruinous stakes. But 
find them where you would, there was about the men a careless per- 
vading bonhomie and a natural high tone resistlessly attractive, yet 
speaking them worthy descendants of the "Golden Horse Shoe 
Knights." 

As yet the influence of the Government was little felt socially. 
The presence of a large congregation of army men from the various 
camps had given an impetus to gaiety it would not otherwise have 
known ; but this was all. There was little change in the habits and 
tone of social intercourse. The black shadow of Washington had 
not yet begun to spread itself, and its corrupt breath had not yet 
polluted the atmosphere of the good old town. 

The presence of Congress, with its ten thousand followers, would 
hardly be considered as elevating anywhere. There is an odor of to- 
bacco — of rum^of discredit — of anytliing but sanctity about the 
American politician that makes his vicinage unpleasant and unprofit- 
able. 

Congress had met in the quiet halls of the Virginia legislature. 
At first all Richmond flocked thither, crowding galleries and lobbies 
to see the might and intellect of the new nation in its most august 
aspect; to be refreshed and strengthened by the full streams that 
flowed from that powerful but pure and placid fountain; to hear 
words that would animate the faint and urge the ready to braver and 
higher deeds. 

Perhaps they did not hear all this ; for after a little they stopped 
going, and the might and majesty of the new giant's intellect was 
left severely to itself. Of the herd of camp-followers who over- 
flowed the hotels and filled the streets, little note was taken. An 
occasional curious stare — a semi-occasional inquiry as to who they 
were — and they passed even up Franklin street without more remark. 
To the really worthy in government or army, the cordial hand of 
honest welcome was extended. 

The society unvaryingly showed its appreciation of excellence of 
intellect or character, and such as were knoAvn, or found to possess it, 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 157 

were at once received on the footing of old friends. But on the 
whole, the sentiment of the city was not in favor of the run of the 
new comers. The leaders of society kept somewhat aloof, and the 
general population gave them the sidewalk. It was as though a stately 
and venerable charger, accustomed for years to graze in a comfortable 
pasture, were suddenly intruded on by an unsteady and vicious drove 
of bad manners and low degree. The thoroughbred can only con- 
descend to turn away. 

Willing as they were to undergo anything for the cause, the A'ir- 
ginians could not have relished the savor of the new importations ; 
nor can one who knows the least of the very unclean nature of our 
national politics for a moment wonder. 

Montgomery had been a condensed and desiccated preparation of 
the Washington stew, highly flavored with the raciest vices. Rich- 
mond enjoyed the same mess, with perhaps an additional kernel or 
two of that garlic. 



158 Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 



CHAPTER XIX. 



DAYS OF DEPRESSION. 



The proverb that misfortunes never come singly soon became a 
painful verity in the South ; and a terrible reaction began to still the 
high-beating pulses of her triumph. 

The merry echoes of the winter had not yet died away, when it 
became oppressingly apparent that proper methods had not been 
taken to meet the steady and persevering preparations of the North. 
Disaster after disaster followed the arms of the South in close succes- 
sion ; and the spirits of all classes fell to a depth the more profound, 
from their elevation of previous joyance. 

As early as the 29th of the previous August, a naval expedition 
under Commodore Stringham had, after a short bombardment, reduced 
the forts at Hatteras Inlet. In the stream of gratulation following 
Manassas, this small event had been carried out of sight ; and even 
the conquest of Port Royal, South Carolina, by Admiral Dupont's 
fleet, on the 7th of November, had been looked upon as one of those 
little mischances that only serve to shade all pictures of general vic- 
tory. 

They were not taken for what they really were — proofs of the en- 
tirely defenseless condition of an immense sweep of coast, in the face 
of the heavy and increasing naval armament of the United States. 
They were considered reverses merely ; inquiry went but little deeper 
and tlise lesson they should have taught was lost ; while the inexplica- 
ble tardiness of the War Department left still more important points 
equally defenseless. 

But the news of General Crittenden's utter defeat at Mill Sj^rings, 
on the 17th of January — of the disastrous results of his miscalcula- 
tion, or misguided impetuosity, and of the death of Zollicoffer — 
came with stunning effect ; opening wide the eyes of the whole coun- 
try to the condition in which apathy, or mismanagement, had left it. 

As usual, too, in the popular estimate of a success, or a reverse, 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 159 

the public laid much stress on the death of Zollicofifer, who was a 
favorite both with them and the army. He was declared uselessly- 
sacrificed, and his commanding general and the Government came in 
for an equal share of popular condemnation. 

Mr. Davis soon afterward relieved Secretary Walker from the 
duties of the War Office ; putting Mr. Benjamin in his seat as 
temporary incumbent. The latter, as before stated, was known as 
a shrewd lawyer, of great quickness of perception, high cultivation, 
and some grasp of mind ; but there was little belief among the people 
that he was fit to control a department demanding decision and 
independence, combined with intimate knowledge of military matters. 
Besides Mr. Benjamin personally had become exceedingly unpopular 
with the masses. Whether this arose from the unaccountable influ- 
ence he — and he alone — had with his chief, or whether the busy 
tongues of his private enemies received too ready credence, is hard 
to say. But so the fact was ; and his elevation gave rise to scurril- 
ous attacks, as well as grave forebodings. Both served equally to fix 
Mr. Davis in the reasons he had believed good enough for his selec- 
tion. 

Suddenly, on the 7th of February, Roanoke Island fell ! 

Constant as had been the warnings of the press, unremittingly as 
General Wise had besieged the War Department, and blue as was the 
mood of the public — the blow still fell like a thunder-clap and shook 
to the winds the few remaining shreds of hope. General Wise was 
ill in bed ; and the defense — conducted by a militia colonel with 
less than one thousand raw troops — was but child's play to the im- 
mense armada with heaviest metal that Burnside brought against the 
place. 

Roanoke Island was the key to General Huger's position at Nor- 
folk. Its fall opened the Sounds to the enemy and, besides paralyzing 
Huger's rear communications, cut off more than half his supplies. 
The defeat was illustrated by great, if unavailing, valor on the part of 
the untrained garrison ; by a plucky and determined fight of the 
little squadron under Commodore Lynch ; and by the brilliant cour- 
age and death of Captain O. Jennings Wise — a gallant soldier and 
noble gentleman, whose popularity was deservedly great. 

But, the people felt that a period must be put to these mistakes ; and 
so great was their clamor that a congressional committee investigated 



i6o Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

the matter ; and their report declared that the disaster lay at the door 
of the War Department. The almost universal unpopularity of the 
Secretary made this a most acceptable view, even while an effort was 
made to shift part of the blame to General Huger's shoulders. But 
wherever the fault, the country could not shake off the gloom that 
such a succession of misfortunes threw over it. 

This feeling was, if possible, increased, and the greatest uneasi- 
ness caused in all quarters, by Burnside's capture of Newbern, North 
Carolina, on the 4th of March. Its defenses had just been completed 
at heavy cost; but General Branch, with a garrison of some 5,000 
men, made a defense that resulted only in complete defeat and the 
capture of even his field artillery. Here was another point, com- 
manding another supply country of great value to the commissariat, 
lost to the South. But worse still, its occupation gave the Federals 
an easy base for striking at the Weldon railroad. 

Nowhere was the weakness of the South throughout the war shown 
more fully than in her utterly inefficient transportation. Here were 
the demands of the army of Virginia and of a greatly-increased popu- 
lation in and around Richmond, supplied by one artery of communi- 
cation! Seemingly every energy of the Government should have been 
turned to utilizing some other channel ; but, though the Danville 
branch to Greensboro' — of only forty miles in length — had been pro- 
jected more than a year, at this time not one rail had been laid. 

It is almost incredible, when we look back, that the Government 
should have allowed its very existence to depend upon this one line — 
the Weldon road; running so near a coast in possession of the enemy, 
and thus liable at any moment to be cut by a raiding party. Yet so 
it was. The country was kept in a state of feverish anxiety for the 
safety of this road; and a large body of troops diverted for its de- 
fense, that elsewhere might have decided many a doubtful battle-field. 
Their presence was absolutely necessary ; for, had they been with- 
drawn and the road tapped above Weldon, the Virginia army could 
not have been supplied ten days through other channels, and would 
have been obliged to abandon its lines and leave Richmond an easy 
prey. 

Meanwhile the North had collected large and splendidly-equipped 
armies of western men in Kentucky and Tennessee, under command 
of Generals Grant and Buell. The new Federal patent, "the 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. i6i 

Cordon," was about to be applied in earnest. Its coils had already 
been unpleasantly felt on the Atlantic seaboard ; General Butler had 
" flashed his battle blade" — that was to gleam, afterward, so bright at 
Fort Fisher and Dutch Gap — and had prepared an invincible armada 
for the capture of New Orleans ; and simultaneously the armies 
under Buell were to penetrate into Tennessee and divide the systen.s. 
of communication between Richmond and the South and West. 

General Albert Sidney Johnston was sent to meet these prepara- 
tions, with all the men that could be spared from Western Virginia 
and the points adjacent to his line of operations. Still his force was 
very inadequate in numbers and appointment; while to every appli- 
cation for more men, the War Department replied that none could 
be spared him. 

The Federal plan was to advance their armies along the wattr- 
courses, simultaneously with their gunboats — light draught construc- 
tions prepared expressly for such service ; and, penetrating to any 
possible point, there form depots with water communication to their 
base. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers were plainly their 
highways. The only defenses of these streams were Forts Henry 
and Donelson — weak works inefficiently garrisoned; for the half 
million appropriated by Congress for their defense at the eleventh 
hour could not have been used in time, even had the money been 
forthcoming from the treasury. 

With scarcely a check to their progress, the Federals reduced and 
passed Fort Henry on the 4th of February, pressing on to Donelson, 
into and supporting which work, General Johnston had thrown Gen- 
eral J. B. Floyd with some ten thousand troops under Pillow and 
Buckner. After three days' hard fighting, Floyd found the position 
untenable and further resistance impossible. He, therefore, turned 
over the command to Buckner — who refused to abandon the part of 
the garrison that could not escape — and, with General Pillow and 
some five thousand men, withdrew in the night and made good his 
escape. 

During the siege of Donelson, Johnston evacuated Bowling Green 
and awaited its issue opposite Nashville. The result being known, it 
naturally followed that this city — undefended by v/orks of any de- 
scription and with an army inadequate to its protection — had to be 
abandoned. The retreat was at once commenced ; and it v/as on that 
II 



1 62 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

gloomy march that Forrest first made the name that now stands with 
so few rivals among the cavahy leaders of the world. Commanding 
a regiment of cavalry from his own section, he seemed as ubiquitous 
as untiring. Keeping a constant front to the enemy — now here, now 
there, and ever cool, dauntless and unflinching — he gave invaluable 
aid in covering the rear of that retreat. About this time, also, John 
H. Morgan began to make his name known as a partisan chief; and 
no more thrilling and romantic pages show in the history of the times, 
than those retailing how he harassed and hurt the Federals while in 
Nashville. 

During the progress of these events on the Tennessee and Cumber- 
land, Richmond had been shaken by alternate spasms of suspense 
and premature exultation. 

Her citizens could scarcely yet realize that the hitherto despised 
Yankees had been able to march, almost unchecked, into the heart 
of a territory protected by southern forts, southern troops, and the 
noblest names in all her bright array. Feeling thus, they still placed 
some credence in any rumors that came. 

One morning, news reached Richmond of a brilliant victory at 
Donelson, and it was received with wild rejoicing. Next night the 
War Department issued the stunning bulletin of the fall of Nash- 
ville ! When this was generally believed, a gloom settled over the 
Capital, such as no event of the war had yet produced. The revul- 
sion was too sudden and complete to be met by reason, or argu- 
ment ; the depression was too hopeless and despairing to be removed 
by any declaration of the valor of the defense, of the orderly char- 
acter of the retreat, or of the far stronger position Johnston had 
gained by a concentration of his force on a ground of his own choice. 

The very name of gunboat began to have a. shuddering signifi- 
cance to the popular mind. A vague, shadowy power of evil far 
beyond that of any floating thing, ancient or modern, was ascribed 
to it; and the wild panic constantly created in the Federal mind the 
year before by the dreaded name of "Black Horse," or the mere 
mention of masked battery — was re-enacted by the South in defer- 
ential awe of those floating terrors. 

Under this morbid state of gloom, the Government fell into greater 
and greater disfavor. Without much analytical reasoning, the people 
felt there must have been a misuse of resources, at least great enough 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 163 

to have prevented such wholesale disaster. Especial odium fell upon 
the War Department and reacted upon the President for retaining 
incapable — or, what was the same to them, unpopular — ministers in 
his council at such vital moment. The press — in many instances 
filled with gloomy forebodings and learned disquisitions on the I-told- 
you-so principle, fanned the flame of discontent. Mr. Davis soon 
found himself, from being the idol of the people, with nearly half 
the country in open opposition to his views. 

At this moment, perhaps, no one act could have encouraged this 
feeling more than his relieving Floyd and Pillow from command, for 
abandoning their posts and leaving a junior officer to capitulate in 
their stead. Certainly the action of these generals at Donelson was 
somewhat irregular in a strictly military view. But the people 
argued that they had done all that in them lay ; that they had fought 
nobly until convinced that it was futile; that they had brought off five 
thousand effective men, who, but for that very irregularity, would 
have been lost to the army of the West; and, finally, that General 
Johnston had approved, if not that one act, at least their tried cour- 
age and devotion. 

Still, Mr. Davis remained firm, and — as was his invariable custom 
in such cases — took not the least note of the popular discontent. 
And still the people murmured more loudly, and declared him an 
autocrat, and his cabinet a bench of imbeciles. 

Thus, in a season of gloom pierced by no ray of light ; with the 
enemy, elated by victory, pressing upon contracting frontiers ; with 
discontent and division gnawing at the heart of the cause — the 
" Permanent Government" was ushered in. 

The 22d of February looked dark and dismal enough to depress 
still more the morljid sensibilities of the people. A deluge of rain 
flooded the city, rushed through the gutters in small rivers, and 
drenched the crowds assembled in Capitol Square to witness the in- 
auguration. 

In the heaviest burst of the storm, Mr. Davis took the oath of 
office at the base of the Washington statue ; and there was some- 
thing in his mien — something solemn in the surroundings and the 
associations of his high place and his past endeavor — that, for the mo- 
ment, raised him in the eyes of the people, high above party spite 
and personal prejudice. 



164 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

An involuntary murmur of admiration, not loud but heart-deep,, 
broke from the crowds who thronged the drenched walks; and 
every foot of space on the roof, windows and steps of the Capitol. 
As it died, Mr. Davis spoke to the people. 

He told them that the fortunes of the South, clouded and dim as 
they looked to-day, must yet rise from the might of her united peo- 
ple, to shine out as bright and glorious as to-morrow's sun. 

It was singularly characteristic of the man, that even then he made 
no explanation of the course he had seen fit to take — no excuses for 
seeming harshness — no pledge of future yielding to any will but his 
own. The simple words he spoke were wholly impersonal ; firm 
declaration that he would bend the future to his purpose; calm and 
solemn iteration of abiding faith that a united South, led by him, 
must be unconquerable. 

There was a depth in the hearts of his hearers that discontent could 
not touch: — that even discontent had not yet chilled. They saw in 
him the representative man of their choice — headstrong certainly, 
erring possibly. But they saw also the staunch, inflexible champion 
of the South, with iron will, active intellect, and honest heart bent 
steadily and unwearyingly to one purpose; and that purpose the 
meanest one among them clasped to his heart of hearts ! 

Then, through the swooping blasts of the storm, came a low, 
wordless shout, wrenched from their inmost natures, that told, if not 
of renewed faith in his means, at least of dogged resolution to stand 
by him, heart and hand, to achieve the common end. 

It was a solemn sight, that inauguration. 

Men and women left the square with solemn brows and serious 
voices. There was none of the bustle and pride of a holiday pag- 
eant ; but there was undoubtedly a genuine resolve to toil on in the 
hard road and reach the end, or fall by the wayside in the effort. 

Having laid out a fixed line of policy, Mr. Davis in no way devi- 
ated from it. There were no changes of government measures and 
no changes of government men, except the elevation of General 
George W. Randolph to the Secretaryship of War. This gentleman 
— a clear-headed lawyer, a tried patriot and soldier by education and 
some experience — was personally very popular with all classes. He 
was known to possess decision of character and a will as firm as the 
President's own ; and the auguries therefrom were, that in future the 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 165 

■chief of the War Office would also be its head. His advent, there- 
fore, was hailed as a new era in military matters. 

But Mr. Benjamin, who became daily more unpopular, had been 
removed from the War Department only to be returned to the port- 
folio of State, which had been kept open during his incumbency of 
the former. This promotion was accepted by the Secretary's enemies 
as at once a reproof to them, and a blow aimed at the popular foreign 
policy. They boldly averred that, though the foreign affairs of the 
Government might not call for very decided measures, Mr, Benjamin 
would not scruple — now that he more than ever had the ear of his 
chief — to go beyond his own into every branch, of the Government, 
and to insert his own peculiar and subtle sophisms into every recess 
of the Cabinet. 

To do the Secretary justice, he bore the universal attack with most 
admirable good nature and sang froid. To all appearance, equally 
secure in his own views and indifferent to public odium, he passed 
from reverse to reverse with perfectly bland manner and unwearying 
courtesy; and his rosy, smiling visage impressed all who approached 
him with vague belief that he had just heard good news, which would 
be immediately promulgated for public delectation. 

The other meml^ers of the Cabinet, though not equally unpopular, 
still failed fully to satisfy the great demands of the fieople. Two of 
them were daily arraigned before the tribunal of the press — with what 
reason, I shall endeavor, hereafter, to show. 

Mr. Reagan's administration of the Post-office, while very bad, 
was possibly as good as any one else could have inaugurated, with 
the short rolling-stock and cut roads of ill-managed, or unmanaged sys- 
tems ; and the Attorney-General was of so little importance for the 
moment as to create but little comment. 

Thus the permanent government of the struggling South was in- 
augurated amid low-lowering clouds. Every wind from the North 
and West threatened to burst them into overwhelming flood ; while, 
within the borders of the nascent Nation, no ray of sunshine yet 
reflected from behind their somber curtain. 

And through the gloom — with no groping hand and with unfalter- 
ing tread ; — straight to the fixed purport of its own unalterable pur- 
pose, strode the great, incarnate Will that could as little bend to 
clamor, as break under adversity ! 



i66 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XX. 



FROM SHILOH TO NEW ORLEANS. 



Within two weeks of his inauguration, the strongly hopeful words 
of President Davis seemed to approach fulfillment, through the crush- 
ing victory of the "Merrhiiac" in Hampton Roads, on the 8th 
March. There was np doubt of the great success of her first experi- 
ment; and the people augured from it a series of brilliant and suc- 
cessful essays upon the water. The late bugbear — gunboats — began 
to pale before the terrible strength of this modern war-engine ; and 
hopes were cherished that the supremacy afloat — which had been the 
foundation of the claim of Federal victory — was at an end. 

On the 23d of the same month, Jackson — who was steadily work- 
ing his way to the foremost place in the mighty group of heroes — 
struck the enemy a heavy blow at Kernstown. His success, if not 
of great material benefit, was at least cheering from its brilliance and 
dash. 

But the scale, that trembled and seemed about to turn in favor of 
the South, again went back on receipt of the news of Van Dorn's 
defeat, on the 7th ]\Iarch, in the trans-Mississippi. Price and his 
veterans — the pride of the whole people, and the great dependence 
in the West — had been defeated at Elk Horn. And again the calam- 
ity assumed unwonted proportions in the eyes of the people from the 
death of Generals Ben McCollough and Mcintosh — the former a 
great favorite with Government, army and public. 

This news overshadowed the transient gleam from Hampton Roads 
and Kernstown; plunging the public mind into a slough of despond, 
in which it was to be sunk deeper and deeper with each successive 
despatch. 

After Nashville, Island No. 10 — a small marsh-surrounded knob in 
the Mississippi river — had been selected by General Beauregard, and 
fortified with all the appliances of his great engineering skill, until 
deemed well-nigh impregnable. It was looked upon as the key to the 
defenses of the river, and of the line of railroad communication 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. lOf 

between New Orleans and the West with the Capital. In the middle 
of March the Federal flotilla commenced a furious bombardment of 
that station; and though a stubborn defense was conducted by its 
garrison, some boats succeeded in running its batteries on the 6th 
April. It was then deemed necessary at once to abandon the post, 
which was done with such precipitate haste that over seventy valuable 
guns — many of them perfectly uninjured; large amounts of stores, 
and all of the sick and wounded, fell into the hands of the captors. 

On the same day was joined the hardest and bloodiest battle that 
had to this time drenched the land with the best blood in it. 

General Grant, with an army of not less than 45,000 fresh and 
well-equipped soldiers, had been facing General A. S. Johnston, 
seeking to amuse him until a junction with Buell could surely crush 
his small force — not aggregating 30,000 effective men. To frustrate 
this intent, Johnston advanced to the attack on the plains of Shiloh, 
depending upon the material of his army, and his disposition of it, to 
equalize the difference of numbers. 

At early dawn on Sunday, the 6th April, General Hardee, com- 
manding the advance of the little army, opened the attack. Though 
surprised — in many instances unarmed and preparing their morning 
meal — the Federals flew to arms and made a brave resistance, that 
failed to stop the onward rush of the southern troops. They were, 
driven from their camp ; and the Confederates — flushed with victory,, 
led by Hardee, Bragg and Polk, and animated by the dash and ubiq- 
uity of Johnston and Beauregard — followed with a resistless sweep 
that hurled them, broken and routed, from three successive lines of 
entrenchments. The Federals fought with courage and tenacity. 
Broken, they again rallied ; and forming into squads in the woods, 
made desperate bush-fighting. 

But the wild rush of the victorious army could not be stopped!. 
On its front line swept! — On, like the crest of an angry billow, . 
crushing resistance from its path and leaving a ghastly wreck under 
and behind it ! 

While leading a charge early in the afternoon. General Johnston re- 
ceived a Minie-ball in his leg. Believing it but a flesh wound, he re- 
fused to leave the ground ; and his falling from his horse, faint with 
the loss of blood, was the first intimation the staff had of its serious 
nature ; or that his death, which followed almost immediately, could 
result from so slight a wound. 



1 68 Fonr Years in Rebel Capitals. 

The loss of their leader was hidden from the men ; and they drove 
the enemy steadily before them, until sunset found his broken and 
demoralized masses huddled on the river bank, under cover of the 
gunboats. 

Here Grant waited the onset, with almost the certainty of annihi- 
lation. But the onset never came; that night Buell crossed upward 
of 20,000 fresh troops; the broken army of Grant was reformed; 
Wallace's division of it joined the main body ; and next day, after a 
terrible and disastrous fight, the southrons slowly and sullenly re- 
tired from the field they had so nobly won the day before. 

A horrid scene that field presented, as foot by foot the fresh thou- 
sands of the Federals wrenched it from the shattered and decimated 
Confederates ; the ground furrowed by cannon, strewn with aban- 
doned arms, broken gun-carriages, horses plunging in agony, and the 
dead and dying in every frightful attitude of torture ! 

The battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest of the war. The little army 
of the South had lost near one-third of its whole number ; while the 
Federals had bought back their camp with the loss of not less than 
16,000 men. 

And, while the bloodiest field, none had so splendidly illustrated 
the stubborn valor of the men and the brilliant courage of their lead- 
ers. Gladden had fallen in the thickest of the fight — the circum- 
stances of his death sending a freshened glow over the bright record 
he had written at Contreras and Molino del Rey. The names of 
Bragg, Hardee and Breckinridge were in the mouths of men, who 
had been held to their bloody work by these bright exemplars. 
Wherever the bullets were thickest, there the generals were found — 
forgetful of safety, and ever crying — " Come ! " 

Governor Harris had done good service as volunteer aid to Gener- 
al Johnston ; and Governor George M. Johnson, of Kentucky, had 
gone into the battle as a private and had sealed his devotion to the 
cause with his blood. Cheatham and Bushrod Johnson bore bloody 
marks of the part they took ; while Breckinridge, who had already 
won undying fame, added to his reputation for coolness, daring, and 
tenacity, by the excellence with which he covered the rear of the 
army on its retreat to Corinth. 

The results of the battle of Shiloh — while they gave fresh cause for 
national pride — were dispiriting and saddening. It seemed as though 



Fo2u- Years in Rebel Capitals. 169 

the most strenuous efforts to marshal fine armies — and the evacua- 
tion of city after city to concentrate troops — were only to result in 
an indiscriminate killing, and no more ; as if the fairest opportunities 
for a crushing blow to the enemy were ever to be lost by error, or 
delay. 

The death of General Johnston, too — seemingly so unnecessary 
from the nature of his wound — caused a still deeper depression ; and 
the pubhc voice, which had not hesitated to murmur against him 
during the eventful weeks before the battle, now rose with universal 
acclaim to canonize him when dead. It cried out loudly that, had 
he lived through the day of Shiloh, the result would have been dif- 
ferent. 

It must be the duty of impartial history to give unbiased judg- 
ment on these mooted points; but the popular verdict, at the time, 
was that Beauregard had wasted the precious moment for giving the 
coup-de-grace. The pursuit of the Federals stopped at six o'clock ; and 
if, said people and press, he had pushed on for the hour of daylight 
still left him, nothing could possibly have followed but the annihila- 
tion, or capitulation, of Grant's army. 

On the other hand, Beauregard's defenders replied that the army 
was so reduced by the terrible struggle of twelve hours — and more 
by straggling after the rich spoils of the captured camp — as to 
render further advance madness. And in addition to this, it was 
claimed that he relied on the information of a most trusty scout — 
none other than Colonel John Morgan — that Buell's advance could 
not possibly reach the river within twenty-four hours. Of course, 
in that event, it was far better generalship to rest and collect his 
shattered brigades, and leave the final blow until daylight. 

An erroneous impression prevailed in regard to this fight, that 
Johnston had been goaded into a precipitate and ill-judged at- 
tack by the adverse criticisms of a portion of the press. No one 
who knew aught of that chivalric and true soldier would for an 
instant have believed he could lend an ear to such considerations, with 
so vast a stake in view ; and the more reasonable theory came to be 
accepted — that he desired to strike Grant before the heavy columns 
that Buell was pouring down could join him. 

At all events, the sad waste of position and opportunity, and the 
heavy loss in brilliant effort and valuable lives, caused equal dissatis- 



170 Four Years i)i Rebel Capitals. 

faction and gloom. Beauregard's new strategic point commanded a 
valuable sweep of producing territory, protected the communications, 
and covered Memphis. Still people were not satisfied ; and tongues 
and pens were busy with the subject, until an event occurred that 
wrapped the whole country in wondering and paralyzing grief. 

On the 26th April New Orleans surrendered to Admiral Farragut ! 

The Federal fleet had long been hovering about the twin forts at 
the mouth of the river; and daily telegrams of the progress of the 
bombardment and of their impregnability had schooled the country 
into the belief that the city was perfectly secure. Day after day the 
wires repeated the same story of thousands of shell and nobody hurt, 
until inquiry ceased to be even anxious ; and the people were ready 
to despise this impotent attempt upon the most important point of 
the far South. 

So secure had the Government been in her defenses, that regi- 
ment after regiment had been withdrawn from New Orleans and sent 
to Corinth, until General Lovell found his command reduced to less 
than three thousand effective men — and more than half of these 
local militia and volunteer organizations. 

Suddenly came the despatch that the fleet had passed the forts at 
dawn on the 24th ! All was consternation in the city. The confi- 
dence had been so great that daily avocations went on as usual; and 
the news found every one as unprepared for it, as though no enemy 
had been near. 

Confusion ruled the hour. General Lovell reached the city from 
below ; and, feeling that his handful of men could effect nothing and 
might only oft'er an excuse for bombardment, he yielded to the desire 
of the city authorities and withdrew to Camp ]\Ioore. He carried 
Avith him all the munitions and supplies that were capable of trans- 
portation; and held himself ready to return at a moment's notice 
from the Council. 

Meanwhile, the Federal fleet had engaged the Confederate flotilla 
— consisting of an incomplete iron-clad, a plated tow-boat ram, and 
eight or ten useless wooden shells — and after a desperate fight had 
driven them off" only to be blown up, one by one, by their own com- 
manders. 

The wnter-batteries then offered no effective resistance. The ob- 
struiMions had been opened to remove accumulated raft, and could 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 171 

not be closed ; and the fleet moved slowly up to seize the rich prize 
that lay entirely within its grasp. 

On the 26th April, the "Hartford" leading the van, it anchored 
off the city to find it hushed as death and wrapped in the eddying 
smoke-clouds from fifteen thousand burning bales of cotton. After 
the first burst of consternation, the people took heart; and even at 
the sight of the enemy's shipping did not lose all hope. There were 
no soldiers aboard ; Butler's army could not dare the passage of the 
forts in the shells of transports that contained it; the fleet, cut off as 
it was from all re-enforcement and supply, could, at worst, only shell 
the city and retire — again running the gauntlets of the two forts; and 
then the only loss to the city — for the flotilla in its incomplete state 
could not have been made effective as a defense — would have been 
the cotton and the trifling damage done by the shells. 

So the people hoped on. A long correspondence, coupled with 
reiterated threats of bombardment, ensued between Mayor Monroe 
and Admiral Farragut, relative to the State flag that still floated over 
the Custom House. Still the city was not in Federal power and 
there might yet be a chance. 

But on the 2Sth, the news of the fall of the forts in consequence of 
the surrender of their garrisons— took the last support from the most 
hopeful. The city yielded utterly; the marines of the "Hartford" 
landed, took formal possession, raised the stars and stripes over the 
City Hall ; and the emblem of Louisiana's sovereignty went down 
forever ! 

Three days after. General Butler landed and took command of the 
city, for which he had not struck a blow. He stationed his garrison 
in the public buildings, the hotels, and even in private houses; and 
then commenced a system of oppression and extortion, that — while it 
made the blood boil in the veins of every southron — has sent his 
name to the honest thinkers of the future linked with a notoriety 
which all history proves to be unique. 

The annals of the war are not free from small pilferers and vicious 
imbeciles ; but high above the tableau they form, this warrior has 
perched himself upon a pinnacle — let us hope — unattainable again ! 

It is hard to overrate the consequences of the fall of New Orleans. 
The commercial city and port of the whole South-west — its depot and 
granary — the key to communication with the trans-Mississippi, and 



172 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

the sentinel over vast tracts of rich and productive territory — her loss 
was the most stunning blow that had yet been dealt the cause of the 
South. 

It opened the whole length of the Mississippi as a new base for 
operations against the interior; and gave opportunities for establish- 
ing a series of depots, from which the Federal armies — if ever beaten 
and shattered — could be rapidly and effectively recruited. 

Not the least disastrous effect of this blow was its reception by the 
people. After the first bitter wail went up over the land, inquiry 
came from every quarter how long this state of things could last. 
Position after position — fortress after fortress — city after city — de- 
clared impregnable by the Government up to the very last moment, 
fell suddenly and mysteriously; only to expose, when too late, the 
chain of grievous errors that inseparably linked the catastrophe with 
the Government. 

The public demanded at least an explanation of these things — a 
candid expose of the condition to which they were reduced. If told 
they were battling hopelessly for their frontiers ; that the enemy was 
too strong and the extent of territory too large for sure defense ; if 
told, even, there were grave reason to doubt the ultimate issue — they 
were yet willing to battle for the hope, and to go uncomplainingly to 
the front and face the gloomy truth. 

But to be buoyed day by day with high-sounding protestations 
of invincibility, only to see their strongest points dropping, one by 
one, into the lap of the enemy; to be lulled into security to find, too 
late, that the Government had deceived them, while it deceived itself; 
and thus to imbibe a deep distrust of the hands in which their hopes 
and the future were placed — this was more than they could bear; and 
"a thick darkness that could be felt" brooded over the land. 

But as yet this feeling had not begun in any way to react upon the 
army. The hardy soldiers had enough to do to keep them busy ; 
and besides had laid up a stock of glorious reminiscences, upon which 
to fall back when bad news reached them. Only the bare facts of 
these rapid and terrible blows reached the camps; and stubborn, 
hard-fisted "Johnny Reb," looked upon them smilingly as reverses to 
be made up to-morrow, or the next time he caught " Mr. Yank." 

To the Louisiana soldiers, the news of the fall of their beautiful city 
had a far deeper and more bitter import. Some of the business m.en 
of New Orleans, who remained in the city, yielded to the prompt- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. i^^ 

ings of interest and fell to worshipjnng the brazen calf, the Wash- 
ington high priest had set up for them. Some refused to degrade 
themselves and remained to be taught that might is right; and that 
handcuffs are for the conquered. Others collected what little they 
could and fled to Europe ; while nobler spirits eluded the vigilance 
of their captors and came by scores into the Confederate camps. 

But the women of New Orleans were left behind. They could 
not come ; and against them the Pontiff of Brutality fulminated that 
bull, which extorted even from the calm and imperturbable British 
Premier the exclamation — " Infamous!" 

The intended insult fell dead before the purity of southern woman- 
hood; but the malignancy that prompted it seared deep into their 
hearts. Though their defenders were away, the women of New Or- 
leans rose in their majesty of sex; and, "clothed on with chastity," 
defied the oppressor and called on manhood everywhere to judge be- 
tween him and them. As 

" When the face of Sextus was seen amid the foes " — 
in those earlier days when Roman womanhood was roused to defy 
that elder traducer — 

"No women on the housetops 

But spat toward him and hiss'd ; 
No child but scream'd out curses 
And shook its little fist ! " 

And the cry echoed in the hearts of the Louisianians in the battle's 
front. It mattered not so much to them if the defenses had been 
neglected; if the proper precautions had not been taken, and their 
firesides and families sacrificed, while they were battling so nobly far 
away. They only felt that those dear homes — their wives, and 
sisters, and sweethearts — were now in the relentless grasp of a hero 
who burned to war against women. 

And deep in their souls they swore a bitter oath to fight in the 
future, not only for the cause they loved, but for themselves; to strike 
each blow, nerved by the thought that it was for the redemption of 
their homes and their loved ones; or, if not for this — for vengeance ! 

Gradually this spirit inoculated their fellow-soldiers. The bitter 
feelings of the struggle, strong enough before, became intensified; 
and in every Confederate camp was brewing a sullen and somber 
war-cloud, the sudden flashes from which were to strike terror to the 
heart of the North before that summer was done. 



174 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE CONSCRIPTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 

In the midst of the gloom, weighing upon the country about the 
days of Shiloh, the Confederate Congress moved on a point of vital 
import to its cause. Weak and vacillating as that body had proved; 
lacking as it was in decision, to force its views on the executive, or to 
resist popular clamor, backed by briitiim fulmen of the press — a 
moment had come when even the blindest of legislators could not 
fail to see. 

More men, was the cry from every general in the field. With 
more men, the army of Manassas could have carried the war over the 
Potomac frontier; perhaps have ended it there. With more men, 
Nashville would have been saved and Shiloh won. With more men, 
the enemy, pouring over the daily contracting frontiers, if not checked 
in their advance, might be restrained from, or chastised for, the 
brutal and uncivilized warfare that now began to wage, away from all 
great army centers. 

Great as was the need for new blood and new brains, in the council 
of the nation — still more dire was the need for fresh muscle in its 
armies. Levies must be raised, or all was lost ; and the glories that 
had wreathed the southern flag, even when it drooped lowest — price- 
less blood that had been poured as a sacrament to consecrate it — 
would all be set at naught by the imbecility of the chosen lawgivers 
of the people. Thus, after a pressure of months from cooler heads 
in government, the more thoughtful of the people, and the most far- 
sighted of the press, the few live men in Congress wrung from it the 
"Conscription Act" on the i6th day of April. 

The reader may have gained some faint idea of the alacrity with 
which men of all classes rushed into the ranks; of the steady endeavor 
and unmurmuring patience with which they bore the toils and dan- 
gers of their chosen position; of their unwavering determination to 
fight the good fight to the end. That the same spirit as genuinely 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 175 

pervaded the masses of the army now, there is little doubt ; but the 
South — instead of husbanding her resources, had slept during these 
precious months the North utilized to bring a half million of men 
against her. 

Now, when she woke to the plain fact that her existence depended 
— not only on keeping in the ranks every man already there, but of 
adding largely to their numbers — it was but natural that the Govern- 
ment's torpor had, in a slight degree, reacted upon its soldiers. 

When the Government had assumed more form and regularity with 
increased proportions and the conviction, forced upon the most ob- 
tuse mind, that a struggle was at hand demanding most perfect organ- 
ization, the looseness of a divided system had become apparent. The 
laws against any State maintaining a standing army were put into ef- 
fect; and the combined military power was formally turned over, as 
a whole, to the Confederate authorities. This change simply meant 
that complete organizations were accepted as they stood, as soldiers 
of the Confederacy instead of soldiers of the states ; the men were 
mustered into the Confederate service and the officers had their state 
commissions replaced by those from the Confederate War Depart- 
ment. From that date, the troops were to look to the central Gov- 
ernment for their pay, subsistence, and supplies. 

In mustering in, all troops — with only exceptions where their con- 
tracts with state governments demanded — were received '' for three 
years of the war." At Montgom.ery, many admirable organizations 
had been tendered to the Government for one year; and much 
discussion had ensued on the subject of their reception. It was then 
generally believed, even by the longest heads in the Cabinet, that the 
war would be only a campaign. I have elsewhere alluded to the te- 
nacity with which its supporters clung to this idea; and Mr. Davis 
was almost alone in his persistent refusal to accept the troops for less 
than three years, or the war. To the one campaign people he said, 
very justly, that if the troops were taken for twelve months, and the 
war were really over in six, here was the Government saddled with 
the incubus at a standing army, infinitely greater than its needs; and 
here large bodies of men who might be of incalculable service 
elsewhere, tied to the vitiating and worse than useless influences of a 
peace camp. On the other hand, should the war last longer, in its 
very climax a large body of educated soldiers, just trained to a point 



176 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

of usefulness, would have the right to demand their discharge, when 
their places would be difficult to fill even with raw levies. There 
was much dissatisfaction among the one campaign people; but their 
own argument — that, if received for the war, the troops would get 
home before their proposed twelve months expired — was unanswer- 
able. Now, when the same arguments were used to enforce the 
passage of the Conscription Act, the enemies that Mr. Davis had by 
this time gathered around him, little recked that in their wisdom, 
they were quoting him. 

This transfer to the Confederate Government covered <?// the troops 
of the several states, except the militia. This, of course, remained 
under the authority of their respective governors. 

Naturally, with the addition to the force originally contemplated by 
" the assembled wisdom of the land," the five brigadier-generals 
allowed by Congress proved totally inadequate. A law had subse- 
quently been forced from them, granting the appointment of five 
gmcrals — a rank paramount to that of field-marshal in European 
armies — of the regular army, who were to command volunteers ; and 
allowing the President to appoint such number of brigadiers of 
volunteers as the necessities of the service demanded. 

There had been little hesitancy in the selection of the generals — all 
of them men who had served with distinction in the army of the 
United States; and who had promptly left it to cast their lot with 
the new Government. So little difference could be found in their 
claims for precedence, that the dates of their old commissions decided 
it. They were Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. 
Lee, Joseph E. Johnston and Pierre G. T. Beauregard. 

These nominations had been received with unanimity by the 
Senate, and with profound satisfaction by the people. Had fitness 
and right been consulted equally in other appointments, much 
priceless blood might have been saved to the South. 

Still, at the time, it was believed that the commissions of brigadier 
of volunteers were conferred upon the most meritorious of the 
resigned officers ; or, where there was reason to hope good results to 
the service — upon the best of those men the troops had chosen as 
commanders. Strong pressure was, of course, brought to bear upon 
the President, regarding these appointments; but the verdict of army 
and people was that these first selections were made with as much 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 177 

judgment and impartiality as the untried state of the army permitted. 

But fifteen months' quiet endurance of hardship, danger and 
doubt; the universal wail from homes that had never before known 
a dark hour, but where unaccustomed toil now fought vainly against 
misery and disease ; a pervading sense of insecurity for any point, and 
that those homes — broken and saddened as they were — might meet a 
yet worse fate — all these causes had done their work. Undaunted and 
unconquered as the men were, the bravest and most steadfast still 
longed for a sight of the dear faces far away. 

The term of service of more than a hundred regiments would ex- 
pire soon ; enlistments had become slow and were not to be stimu- 
lated by any inducements legislation could offer. The very danger 
that had been pointed out in refusing more "twelve months' men" 
became too imminent to evade. 

The soldiers of the South were more anxious than ever to meet 
the foe. Added to their love for the cause, many now felt bitter 
personal incentive to fight ; and every blow was now struck alike for 
country and for self. But while panting for the opportunity, they 
had a vague feeling that they must fight nearer home and — forget- 
ting that the sole protection to their loved ones lay in a union, 
closer and more organized than ever — each yearned for the hour 
when he would be free to go and strike for the defense of his ov/n 
hearthstone. 

The intent of the conscription was to put every man in the coun- 
try, between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, into the army; re- 
stricting "details" from the field within the narrowest limits of abso- 
lute necessity. It retained, of course, every man already in the 
field ; and, had its spirit been vigorously carried out, would have 
more than doubled the army by midsummer. 

It provided for the separate enrollment of each state under a 
"Commandant of Conscripts;" and for collecting new levies at 
proper points in " Camps of Instruction," under competent officers, 
that recruits might go to the army prepared in drill and knowledge 
of camp life for immediate service. 

But, the Conscription Act, like all other congressional measures, 
was saddled with a companion, '* Bill of Exemptions." This — 
while so loosely constructed as almost to nullify all good effect of the 
law — opened the door to constant clashing of personal and public 
interests, and to great abuses of the privilege. 



178 Four Years hi Rebel Capitals, 

It would, of course, have been folly to draw every able-bodied 
male from districts already so drained of effective population as to 
have become almost non-producing. Such a course would have put 
thousands of additional mouths into the ranks, and still further have 
reduced the straitened means for feeding them. And it would have 
been equally suicidal to draw from forge and from lathe, those skilled 
artisans who were day and night laboring to put weapons in the hands 
of those sent to wield them. 

But the "Bill of Exemptions" left possible both of these things, 
at the same time that it failed to restrain abuses of privileges in 
certain high quarters. The matter of " details " was, of course, 
essential; and it was only to be supposed that generals in the 
field could best judge the value of a man in another position than 
the front. 

But the most objectionable feature to the army was the "Substi- 
tute Law," which allowed any one able to buy a man, not subject to 
the action of conscription, to send him to be shot at in his place. 
Soldiers who had endured all perils and trials of the war, naturally 
felt that if they were retained in positions they objected to, those who 
had been comfortably at home — and in many instances coining that 
very necessity into fortunes — should be forced at the eleventh hour 
to come and defend tlie»selves and their possessions. Besides, the 
class of men who were willing to sell themselves as substitutes were 
of the very lowest order. All citizens of the South were liable to 
conscription; and the "exempts" open to purchase, were either 
strange adventurers, or men over and under age, who — argued the 
soldiers — if fit for service should come of their own free will. 

Veteran troops had a low enough opinion of the "conscript" as a 
genus ; but they failed not to evince, by means more prompt than 
courteous, their thorough contempt for the " substitute." 

These causes produced much discontent, where men would cheer- 
fully have acquiesced in a law essential to the preservation of the 
fabric they had reared and cemented with their blood. To quell this 
feeling, a reorganization of the army was effected. A certain time 
was allowed for any liable man to volunteer and choose his branch of 
the service and, if practicable, his regiment ; and so great was the dread 
of incurring the odium of conscription, that the skeleton veteran reg- 
iments rapidly filled up to a point of efficiency. They were then 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 179 

-allowed to choose their own officers by election ; and, though this 
lost to the service many valuable men who had become unpopular, 
still the army was better satisfied within itself. 

The refilled regiments were re-brigaded by states when practica- 
ble, a general from a different state being sometimes placed in com- 
mand \ and the whole army was divided into corps, of three divisions 
each, commanded by a lieutenant-general. 

Whatever the weakness of its construction — and the abuses of the 
exemption and detail power in carrying it out — there can be little 
doubt that the conscription at this time saved the country from speedy 
and certain conquest ; and credit should be given to the few active 
workers in the congressional hive who shamed the drones into its 
passage. 

Had the men whose term expired been once permitted to go 
home, they could never again have been collected; the army would 
have dwindled into a corporal's guard here and there ; the masses 
the North was pouring down on all sides would have swept the futile 
resistance before it; and the contest, if kept up at all, would have 
degenerated into a guerrilla warfare of personal hatred and ven- 
geance, without a semblance of confederation, or nationality. 

Once passed, the people of the whole country aquiesced in and 
approved the conscription, and gave all the aid of their influence to 
its progress. Hej^e and there a loud-mouthed demagogue would at- 
tempt to prejudice the masses against the measure ; but scarcely a 
community failed to frown down such an effort, in the great extremity 
of the country, as vicious and traitorous. The opposition that the 
project had met in the administration — from doubt as to its avail- 
ability — was removed by its very first working. What had been in 
its inception an unpopular measure, received now the approbation of 
all classes ; and the governors of every state — save one — went to work 
with hearty good will to aid its carrying out. 

This exception was Governor Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia, who 
entered into a long wrangle with the administration on the constitu- 
tional points involved. He denied the right of Congress to pass such 
an act, and of the Executive to carry it out within the limits of a 
sovereign state ; averred — with much circumlocution and turgid bom- 
bast — that such attempt would be an infringement of the State Rights 
of Georgia, which he could not permit. 



I So Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Mr. Davis replied in a tone so reasonable, decorous and temperate 
as to wring unwilling admiration even from his opponents. He 
pointed out briefly the weak points that rendered the governor's posi- 
tion utterly untenable, ignored the implied warning of resistance to 
the law; and succinctly stated that he relied upon the patriotism of 
Georgians to grasp the full meaning of the crisis their executive failed 
to comprehend ; and he closed by stating that the conscription must 
go on. 

Governor Brown found no supporters for his extreme views, even 
in the anti-administration party. The people felt the imminence of 
the danger ; and here, as in all matters of deep import, they placed 
the conservation of the cause high above partisan prejudices, or 
jealousies of cliques. Utterly silenced by the calm dignity and in- 
cisive logic of Mr. Davis, and abandoned by the few supporters his 
defiance of the administration had at first collected around him. Gov- 
ernor Brown was forced to yield ; achieving only the conviction that 
he had the general condemnation of the popular voice. 

Once set in motion, the machinery of conscription worked rapidly 
and somewhat smoothly. The Camps of Instruction in all states not 
possessed by the enemy filled rapidly, and the class of conscripts on 
the whole was fairly good. By early summer they began to arrive in 
Richmond and " Camp Lee" — the station where they were collected 
— became a point equally of curiosity to the exempt and of dread to 
the liable. 

It was curious to note the prevalence of the various state-traits, 
showing in the squads of conscripts from time to time passing through 
the city. The sturdy farmers from the interior, especially those from 
Virginia, Georgia and Alabama, though lacking the ease and careless 
carriage of the veteran soldier, had a determined port that spoke for 
their future usefulness. They were not merry naturally. Called from 
accustomed avocations and leaving behind them families defenseless 
and without means of support, they could scarcely have marched 
gaily, even when willingly, into the Carnival of Death. But they 
were resolute men, earnest in their love for the South and honest in 
their wish to serve her — with the musket, if that were better than the 
plough. 

Tall and lank, but long-limbed and muscular, the Georgians had a 
swinging stride of their own; and, even ,when the peculiar dialect did 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. i8i 

not ring out over their ranks, something in their general style gave 
the idea that these were the men who would one day be fellow-soldiers 
of the famous " fighting Third." 

Ever and anon came a dejected, weary squad with slouching gait 
and clayey complexions. Speaking little and then with a flat, unin- 
toned drawl that told of the vicinage of "salt marsh;" bearing the 
seeds of rice-field fevers still in them, and weakly wondering at the 
novel sights so far from home, the South Carolina conscripts were not 
a hopeful set of soldiers. As soon as the tread of hostile battalions 
had echoed on her soil, the sons of the Palmetto State flew to their 
posts. State regulars went to the coast, picked volunteer corps came 
to Virginia. None stayed behind but those really needed there by 
the Government, or that refuse class which had determined to dodge 
duty, but now failed to dodge "the conscript man." The former 
were, of course, as much needed now as ever ; the latter did not ride 
into the battle with defiance on their brows, but, on the contrary, 
seemed looking over their shoulders to find a hole in the mesh that 
implacable conscription had drawn about them. 

Their next neighbors of the Old North State were hardly better in 
the main, but some men among them seemed not unlike the militia 
that had fought so well at Roanoke Island. Green and awkward ; 
shrinking away from the chaff of passing regulars; looking a little 
sheepish for being conscripts, "Zeb Vance's boys" yet proved not 
unworthy the companionship of the men of Bethel, of Manassas and 
of Richmond. 

At first the border states, or those overrun by the enemy, gave few 
additions to the conscript camps. 

Kentucky, on whose adherence and solid aid to the cause such 
reliance had been placed in the beginning, had sadly failed to meet 
it. With the reminiscences of her early chivalry, her romantic warfare of 
the " Dark and Bloody Ground," and the warlike habits of her men, 
mingled considerations of the usefulness of her vast resources and 
her natural points for defense, lying so near the Federal territory. 
But as the war wore on and the state still wavered, the bent of her 
people seemed strangely to incline to the northern side. Seeking a 
neutrality that was clearly impossible, the division in her councils 
admitted the Federals within her borders. Then, when it was hope- 
less to do more, the noblest and most honored of her sons left Ken- 



1 82 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

tucky and ranged themselves under that banner they had in vain, 
sought to unfurl over her. 

Like Maryland, Kentucky had early formed a corps d' elite, called 
the " State Guard," which numbered many of the best-born and most 
cultured young men of the state, with headquarters at Louisville. 
This was commanded by General S. B. Buckner and under the gen- 
eral control of Governor Magoffin. This corps was supposed ta 
represent the feelings of all better citizens in its opposition to the 
Union cause. 

But when the action of political schemers — aided by the designs- 
of a money-loving and interested populace — laid Kentucky, like 
Maryland, bound hand and foot at the feet of the Federal govern- 
ment; when the Union council of the state strove to disarm or put 
them in the Union ranks, the soldiers of the " State Guard" left un- 
hesitatingly and joined the array of the South in large numbers. 

Late in November, 1861, a convention had met; and, declaring 
all bonds with the Union dissolved, passed a formal Ordinance of 
Secession and sent delegates to ask admission from the Richmond 
Congress. A month later Kentucky was formally declared a mem- 
ber of the Confederacy ; but before that time Buckner and Breckin- 
ridge had received the commissions, with which they were to wir& 
names as proud as any in the bright array of the South ; a Kentucky 
brigade — whose endurance and valiant deeds were to shed a luster 
on her name that even the acts of her recreant sons could not dim — 
were in General Johnston's van ; some of her ablest and most ven- 
erable statesmen had given up honors and home for the privilege of 
being freemen ! All the South knev/ that the admission of the state 
was but an empty form — powerless alike to aid their cause, or to 
wrest her from the firm grasp the Federal government had set upon 
her. 

At the time of the first conscription the few men left in Kentucky,, 
who had the will, could not make their way into Confederate 
camps ; far less could the unwilling be forced to come. 

Tennessee, also, had been a source of uneasiness to the Richmond 
Government from the spread of Union tendencies among a portion of 
her inhabitants. Though she had been a member of the Confederacy 
near a year, still the half civilized and mountainous portions of her 
territory, known as East Tennessee, had done little but annoy the 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 185 

army near it, by petty hostilities and even by a concerted plan for 
burning all the railroad bridges in that section and thus crippling 
communications. 

Fortunately this scheme had been frustrated, and the half-savage 
population — for the better class of Tennesseeans were almost unani- 
mous in expression of loyalty to the South — kept in subjection. 

But now with her soil overrun by Federal soldiers, and with a 
Federal fleet in every river, the state could not respond to the call 
of the South ; and, of course, the soldiers she yielded the conscription, 
were from the narrow tracts in Confederate possession only. 

One hears much of the " Union feeling " in the South during the 
war. Immediately on its close, a rank crop of " southern loyalists '* 
had sprung up in many quarters; basking in the rays of the Freedmen's 
Bureau and plentifully manured with promises and brotherly love by 
the open-mouthed and close-fisted philanthropy of New England. 
But like all dunghill products, the life of these was ephemeral. Its 
root struck no deeper than the refuse the war had left ; and during 
its continuance the genus was so little known that a Carlyle, or a 
Brownlow, was looked upon with the same curiosity and disgust as a 
very rare, but a very filthy, exotic. 

With the exceptions of portions of Kentucky and Tennessee, no 
parts of the South were untrue to the government they had accepted. 

Florida was called "loyal" and General Finnegan proved with 
what truth. " Loyal " Missouri has written her record in the blood 
of Price's ragged heroes. Louisiana, crushed by the iron heel of 
military power, spoiled of her household gods and insulted in her 
women's name, still bowed not her proud head to the flag that had 
thus become hostile. 

And the Valley of Virginia ! Ploughed by the tramp of invading 
squadrons — her fair fields laid waste and the sanctity of her every 
household invaded — alternately the battle-ground of friend and foe — 
where was her "loyalty?" 

Pinched for her daily food, subsidized to-day by the enemy and? 
freely giving to-morrow to their own people — with farming utensils 
destroyed and barns bursting with grain burned in wanton deviltry — 
the people of the Valley still held to the allegiance to the flag they 
loved ; and the last note of the southern bugle found as ready echo 
in their hearts as in the first days of the invasion — 



184 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

"Their foes had found enchanted ground — 
But not a knight asleep ! " 

In possibly one or two instances, the official reports of invading 
generals may have been in some slight degree erroneous ; newspaper 
correspondents are not in every instance absolutely infallible; and 
perhaps it was more grateful to the tender sensibilities of the war 
party at the North to feel that there were hearts of brothers beating 
for them in the glare of burning rooftrees, or swelling with still more 
loyal fervor to the cry of the insulted wife ! 

But at this day — when the clap-trap of war has died away with the 
roll of its drums; when reason may in some sort take the place of 
partisan rage — not one honest and informed thinker in the North 
believes that " loyal " feeling ever had deep root anywhere among 
the southern masses; or that " loyal citizens" \vere as one in ten 
thousand ! 

Whole communities may have murmured ; there may have been 
*' schism in the council and robbery in the mart ; " demagogues may 
have used wild comparisons and terrible threats about the Government ; 
staunch and fearless newspapers may have boldly exposed its errors 
and mercilessly lashed its weak or unworthy members ; some men 
may have skulked and dodged from their rightful places in the bat- 
tle's front ! 

But, however misplaced the w^orld's verdict may declare their 
zeal — however great the error for which they fought and suffered and 
died — no man to-day dare refuse to the southern people the meed of 
their unparalleled constancy ! 

Even conquered — manacled and gagged by the blind and blood- 
thirsty faction in power — the southern people held to the small frag- 
ments of rights left them, with brave tenacity. Willing to accept that 
arbitration to which they had submitted their cause, and ready to 
take the hand of fellowship if offered, they still preferred to suffer 
with the bright memories of their past, rather than to efface them by 
signing their own degradation. 

They were conquered and bound in the flesh, but there was 
enough of manhood left in the spirit to say — 

•'Though ye conquer us, men of the North, know ye not 
What fierce, sullen hatred lurks under the scar? 
How loyal to Hapshurg is Venice, I wot! 

How dearly the Pole loves 'his father' — the Czar!" 



Four Year's in Rebel Capitals. 185 

No more singular sight was presented by all the war than the 
conscript depot at Richmond. The men from tlie " camps of in- 
struction" in the several states — after a short sojourn to learn the 
simplest routine of the camp, and often thoroughly untaught in 
the manual even — were sent here to be in greater readiness when 
wanted. Such officers as could be spared were put in charge of 
them, and the cadets of the Virginia Military Institute were em- 
ployed as drill officers. 

Citizens of various states — young, old, honest and vicious alike — 
the conscripts were crowded together in camp, left to their own 
devices enough to make them learn to live as soldiers ; and put 
through constant drill and parade to accustom them to the use of arms. 

Almost every variety of costume obtained among them. The 
butternut jacket with blue jjants of the Federal soldier, the homespun 
shirt with the cast-off pants of some lucky officer ; and the black 
broadcloth frock and jauntily-cut pants that some friendly lady had 
ransacked her absent one's stores to give, all appeared on dress 
parade ; surmounted by every variety of head gear, from the straw 
hat of many seasons to the woolen night-cap the good "marm" had 
knitted. 

Notwithstanding much work, there was still too much leisure time ; 
and "apple jack" filtered its way through provost guards, and cards, 
the greasiest and most bethumbed, wiled many an hour for the 
unwary and verdant. 

The lower class of conscripts were almost invariably from the cities 
— the refuse population of the wharf, bar-room and hotel. Unwilling 
to volunteer, these gentry skulked behind every excuse to avoid 
conscription; but when forced off" at last, they and the substitutes 
banded in an unholy brotherhood to make the best of their position. 

Ringleaders in every insubordination and every vice they assumed 
a degage air of superiority, and fleeced their verdant companions of 
the very clothes they wore; while they made the impure air of the 
camps more ^oul with ribald jest and profane song. 

A single glance segregated this element from the quiet country 
conscripts. The latter were generally gloomy, thinking of the field 
untilled and the wife and little ones, perhaps, unfed. When they 
drank "new dip" it was to drown thought, for the fumes of every 
stew-pan brought back shadowy memories of home and comfort; and 



1 86 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

when they slept on the damp ground — wrapped in the chance rug, or 
worn scrap of carpet charity had bestowed — a sad procession marched 
through their dreams, and sorrowful and starving ligures beckoned 
them from mountain side and hamlet. 

Great misery and destitution followed the conscription. Large 
numbers of men, called from their fields just as they were most 
needed, cut down greatly the supplies of grain. Almost all who re- 
mained at home bought their exemption by giving so large a portion 
of their product to Government as to reduce civil supplies still more ; 
and these two facts so enhanced the price of food — and so reduced 
the value of money — that the poorer classes rapidly became destitute 
of all but the barest means of life. Whether this was the result of 
inevitable circumstance, or the offspring of mismanagement, in no way 
affects the fact. Food became very hard to procure even at high 
prices ; and the money to get it was daily more and more monopolized 
by a grasping few. 

The Confederate soldier now had a double share of toil and tort- 
ure. When the smoke of the fight rolled away, and with it the 
sustaining glow of battle, thought bore him but grim companionship 
at the camp fireside; for he saw famine stalk gaunt and pale through 
what had been his home. 

When tidings of want and misery came, he strove to bear them. 
When he heard of burning and outrage — where naught was left to 
plunder — who may wonder that he sometimes fled from duty to his 
country, to that duty more sacred to him of saving his wife and 
children ! 

'.Who does not wonder, rather, in reading the history of those 
frightful days, that desertions were so few — that untutored human 
nature could hide in its depths such constancy and devotion to prin- 
ciple ! 

But, great as were the privation and the suffering caused by the 
first conscription, they w-ere still to be increased. Through those 
twin abortions of legislation, the substitute and exemption bills, the 
results of the first law proved inadequate to fill the gaps of the fatal 
fights of the summer. 

Detail and substitute had done their work, as thoroughly as had 
the shells of Malvern Hill, the bullets of Sharpsburg, or the raw corn 
of the retreat to the river. 



Foitr Years in Rebel Capitals. 187 

More men were wanted ! At whatever cost in territory, or in suf- 
fering, more men must be had. And on the 27 th September, Con- 
gress passed an act extending the age of conscription from 18 to 45 
years. But the exemption and substitute laws remained as effective 
as ever. True, some feeble moves were made toward narrowing the 
limits of the former ; but while it stood a law in any form, enough 
could be found to read it in any way. The extension law, while it 
still further drained the almost exhausted country — and left in its 
track deeper suffering and destitution, that brought famine from a 
comparative term into an actual verity — still left in the cities an able- 
bodied and numerous class; who, if not actually useless, were far 
more so than the food-producing countrymen sent to the front to take 
their places. 

Yet so blind was the Congress — so impervious to the sharpest 
teachings of necessity and so deaf to the voice of common sense and 
reason, that unceasingly upbraided it — that this state of things con- 
tinued more than a year from the passage of the extension act. 

Then, when it was almost too late for human aid to save the cause 
— when the enemy had not only surrounded the contracted territory 
on every side, but had penetrated into its very heart — the substitute 
bill was repealed, and every man in the land between the ages of 18 
and 45, declared a Confederate soldier subject to service. Then, 
too, the abuses of exemption and detail, so often and so clearly 
pointed out, were looked into and measurably corrected. 

Further than this, all boys from 16 to 18, and older men, from 45 
to 60, though not conscribed, were formed into reserve "home guards;" 
and then General Grant wrote to Washington that the cause was won 
when the Rebels " robbed the cradle and the grave." 

But the infantile and the moribund murmured not ; and more than 
once a raid was turned and a sharp skirmish won, when the withered 
cheek of the octogenarian was next the rosy face of the beardless 
stripling! 

Only one complaint came, and that was heard with grim amuse- 
ment alike by veteran, by conscript, and by substitute. 

The substitute buyers now loudly raised a wail of anguish. 
Plethoric ledger and overflowing till, alas! must be left; the auction- 
eer's hammer and the peaceful shears must alike be thrown aside, and 
the rusty musket grasped instead; soft beds and sweet dreams of 



i88 Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

to-morrow's profit must be replaced by red mud and the midnight long 
roll! 

It was very bitter ; and rising in their wrath, a few of these railed 
at the perfidy of the Government in breaking a contract ; and even 
employed counsel to prove that in effect they were already in the 
field. 

One ardent speculator even sought the War Department and logi- 
cally proved that, having sent a substitute, who was virtually himself, 
and that substitute having been killed, he himself was a dead man, 
from whom the law could claim no service ! 

But the Department was now as deaf as the adder of Scripture ; 
and the counsel, let us hope, pleaded not very earnestly. So the sub- 
stitute buyers — except in the few cases where the long finger of influ- 
ential patronage could even now intervene — went, as their ill-gotten 
dollars had gone before. 

It is plainly impossible, in limits of a desultory sketch, to give even 
a faint outline of the conscription. Its ramifications were so great — 
the stress that caused it so dire, and the weaknesses and abuses that 
grew out of it so numerous, that a history of them were but a his- 
tory of the war. 

Faithfully and stringently carried out, it might have saved the 
South. Loosely constructed and open to abuse, it was still the most 
potent engine the Government had used; and while it failed of its in- 
tent, it still for the first time caused the invader to be met by any- 
thing approaching the whole strength of the country. 

Under its later workings, every man in the South was a soldier ; but 
that consummation, which earlier might have been salvation — came 
only when the throes of death had already begun to seize her vitals. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 189 



CHAPTER XXII. 

WAITING FOR THE ORDEAL BY COMBAT. 

If any good fruits were to grow from the conscription, the seed 
had not been planted a moment too soon. 

The whole power of the Union was now to be exerted against the 
South ; and the Washington idea plainly was to lay the ax at the very 
root of the rebellion. 

Desultory movement had already begun in the Valley and along 
the river; but it masked in nowise plain indication of the massing 
of troops for another, and a greater, " On to Richmond!" 

The separate corps of Banks, Fremont and Shields were hovering 
about the flanks of the devoted Army of Manassas ; and the decisive 
blow was evidently to be aimed at that point. But the clear-sighted 
and cool-headed tactician at the head of the bulwark of Virginia saw far 
beyond the blundering war-chess of his antagonist. He prepared 
to checkmate McClellan's whole combination 3 and suddenly — after 
weeks of quiet preparation, of which the country knew no more than 
the enemy — Manassas was evacuated ! 

To effect this movement, it was necessary to abandon all the heavy 
river batteries, guarding the Potomac, at immense loss in guns and 
material ; and to destroy large quantities of commissary stores, for 
which there was no transportation. But, "Joe Johnston " held tjie 
movement to be necessary ; and, by this time the South had learned 
to accept that what he thought must be correct. The great disparity 
in numbers, and the evident purpose of the Federals to make Rich- 
mond the focal point of attack, spoke plainly to that perfect soldier 
the necessity — coute que coiite — of bringing his army within easy 
striking distance of the Capital. 

Stonewall Jackson — with Ewell's and Early's divisions of less than 
ten thousand men of all arms — was detached to watch the enemy ; 
and the retrograde movement was completed so successfully that 
McClellan never suspected the evacuation. Two days later, his 



190 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

grand array — *'an army with banners," bands braying and new arms 
glinting in the sun — moved down to the attack ; and then, doubtless 
to his infinite digust, he found only the smoking and deserted debris 
of the Confederate camp. The army he had hoped to annihilate 
was on its steady and orderly march for Richmond. 

Immediately, the baffled Federal embarked his entire force and 
landed it on the Peninsula — formed by the junction of the York and 
James rivers — in front of Alagruder's fortifications. Failing at the 
front door, McClellan again read Caesar, and essayed the back 
entrance. 

Magruder's line of defense — a long one, reaching entirely across 
the Federal advance— was held by a nominal force, not exceeding 
7,500 effective men. Had this fact been known to its com- 
mander, the "grand army" might easily have swept this handful 
before it and marched, unopposed, into the Southern Capital. But 
"Prince John" was a wily and bold soldier; and, while he sent to 
the rear most urgent statements of his dire need and pressed the gov- 
ernment for re-enforcement, he kejit his front covered by ceaseless 
vigilance, constant shifting of his thinned battalions and continued 
active advance skirmishing. So effective was this as entirely to de- 
ceive the enemy. ISIcClellan sat down before him and began to 
fortify! 

Amid the anxiety of that moment and the rapid rush of grave 
events that followed immediately upon it, the great importance of 
INIagruder's tactics on the Peninsula has largely been lost sight of. 
That they were simply not to be overestimated, it is tardy justice to 
state. For, there were scores of occasions in those grim four years, 
when the cant went out — "We might have ended the war right 
here ! " It was ever coupled with — and nullified by — a large and so- 
norous "if;" but there is no question but that — had Magruder per- 
mitted the tactician in his front to estimate his weakness — the "Seven 
days' fights" would never have been won, for Richmond would have 
been lost ! 

It were impossible to describe accurately the state of public feel- 
ing, which now prevailed in the Southern Capital. Al)eolutely in 
the dark as to the actual movement and its consequences ; knowing 
only that their cherished stronghold, Manassas, was deserted and its 
splendid system of river batteries left a spoil; hearing only the 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 191 

gloomiest echoes from the Peninsular advance and ignorant of John- 
ston's plans — or even of his whereabouts — it was but natural that a 
gloomy sense of insecurity should have settled down upon the masses, 
as a pall. A dread oppressed them that the recent dramas of Nash- 
ville and New Orleans were to be re-enacted on their own central 
theater; and, ever barometric, the people let the mercury drop to 
zero, as they read the indications in one another's faces. Social 
pleasures lately so frequent — social intercourse almost — were now 
known no more. The music one heard was the quick tap of the 
timing drum ; the only step thought of, the double quick to the front. 
But gradually, the army that had been manoeuvering about the 
Rappahannock began to arrive; and day and night the endless 
stream of muddy men poured down Main street, in steady tramp for 
the Peninsula. Grim and bronzed they were, those veterans of 
Manassas; smeared with the clay of their camp, unwashed, unkempt, 
unfed; many ragged and some shoeless. But they tramped through 
Richmond — after their forced march — with cheery aspect that put to 
flight the doubts and fears of her people. Their bearing electrified 
the citizens ; and for the moment, the rosy clouds of hope again 
floated above the horizon. 

Even the scanty ration the soldiers had become inured to had been 
reduced by necessities of their rapid march ; and that knowledge 
caused every corps that passed through to receive substantial tokens 
of the sympathy and good will of the townspeople. Ladies and 
children thronged the sidewalks, pressing on their defenders every- 
thing which the scanty Confederate larder could supply; while, from 
many of the houses, gloves, socks and comforters rained down upon 
the worst clad of the companies. 

"Johnny Reb" was ever a cheerful animal, with a general spice 
of sardonic humor. Thus refreshed, inwardly and outwardly, the 
men would march down the street ; answering the waving handker- 
chiefs at every window with wild cheers, swelling sometimes into the 
indescribable ** rebel yell!" Nor did they spare any amount of 
good-natured chaff to those luckless stay-at-homes encountered on 
the streets. 

" Come out'r that black coat ! I see yer in it!" — " I know ye're a 
conscrip'. Don't yer want 'er go for a sojer?" — '* Yere's yer chance 
ter git yer substertoot ! " — and like shouts, leveled at the head of some 



192 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

unlucky wight, constantly brought roars of laughter from the soldiers 
and from his not sympathetic friends. Passing one house, a pale, 
boyish-looking youth was noted at a window with a l^dy. Both 
waved handkerchiefs energetically ; and the men answered with a 
yell. But the opportunity was too good to lose. 

"Come right along, sonny! The lady '11 spare yer ! Here's a 
little muskit fur ye' !" 

"All right, boys!" cheerily responded the youth, rising from his 
seat — "Have you got a leg for me, too?" And Colonel F. stuck 
the shortest of stumps on the window-sill. 

With one impulse the battalion halted ; faced to the window, and 
spontaneously came to " Present! " as the ringing rebel yell rattled 
the windows of that block. The chord had been touched that the 
roughest soldier ever felt ! 

Then came the calm ; when the last straggler had marched through 
to the front and Johnston's junction with Magruder was accom- 
plished. The rosy clouds faded into gray again ; and, though the 
fluttering pulse of Richmond beat a little more steadily, it was not 
entirely normal. Rumors came from Yorktown of suffering and dis- 
content. Coupled with exaggerations of the really overwhelming 
force the enemy had massed before it, they proved anything but en- 
couraging. Still, there was no hopelessness; and the preparations, 
that had by this time become a matter of certainty — stretchers — 
bandages — lint and coarse, narrow sheets — went steadily on. 

The brave women of the city were a constant reproach, in their 
quiet, unmurmuring industry, to the not infrequently faint-hearted 
and despondent men. Constantly they worked on, and tried to look 
cheerfully on the future by the light of the past. No one among 
them but knew that real and serious danger threatened ; no one 
among them but believed that it would be met as it had been met be- 
fore — boldly without doubt ; triumphantly if God willed ! 

No need for Virginia's sons to read of the Gracchi, with a thou- 
sand Cornelias working cheerily and faithfully on the hard, tough 
fabrics for them. One day an order came for thirty thousand sand- 
bags. Never before did needles fly so fast, for who could tell but 
what that very bag might stand between death and a heart dearer far 
than aught else on earth. Thirty hours after the order came, the 
women of Richmond had sent the baes to Yorktown ! 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 193 

At length, after three weeks of trying suspense, filled with every 
fantastic shape of doubt and dread, came news of the evacuation of 
Norfolk, the destruction of the iron-clad "Virginia," and of the re- 
treat from the Peninsula. Not appreciating the strategical reasons 
for these movements, Richmond lost her temporary quiet and again 
fell to lamenting the dark prospects for the city. 

On the 4th of May, the last of the Confederate forces evacuated 
Yorktown; reluctantly turning their backs on the enemy, to take up 
the line of march for Richmond. 

Next day McClellan's advance pressed on ; and overtaking their 
rear, under Longsireet, began heavy skirmishing to harass it, near 
Williamsburg. Seeing the necessity of checking too vigorous pur- 
suit, and of teaching the Federals a lesson, Longstreet made a 
stand; and, after a severe conflict — in which he inflicted much heav- 
ier loss than he sustained, besides capturing several field pieces and 
colors — again took up his march unmolested. 

The battle of Williamisburg was the one brilliant episode of tlat 
gloomy retreat. Although the main army could not be checked to 
give him re-enforcement, and his wounded had to be left in the hands 
of the enemy, Longstreet had gained a decided and effective suc- 
cess. But this one misfortune for the moment dimmed the luster of 
his achievement in the eyes of the Richmond people; and, perhaps, 
prevented much of the good effect its decisive character might other- 
wise have had. 

The appearance of the army, after the retreat from Williamsburg, 
did not tend to cheer the inexpert. First came squads of conva- 
lescent sick, barely able to march, who had been sent ahead to save 
the ambulances for those worse than they. It was a black Sunday 
afternoon, when those wan and hollow-eyed men limped pain- 
fully through the streets on their weary way to Camp Winder 
Hospital. Weak — mud-encrusted and utterly emaciated — many of 
them fell by the roadside ; while others thankfully accepted the rough 
transportation of any chance wagon, or cart, that could carry them 
to the rest they yearned for. 

But willing and energetic workers were at hand. Orders were ob- 
tained; and carriages returning from church, hotel omnibuses — every 
wheeled thing upon the streets were impressed for the service of 
mercy. By late afternoon the wards of Winder Hospital were over- 



194 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

flowing; but negligent, or overworked, commissaries had neglected 
to provide food, and many of the men — in their exhausted condition 
— were reported dying of starvation ! Few women in Richmond 
dined that Sabbath. Whole neighborhoods brought their untasted 
dinners to the chief worker among them ; and carriages and carts — 
loaded with baskets and hampers and bearing a precious freight of 
loving womanhood — wended their way to the hospital. By night 
hundreds of poor fellows had eaten such food as they had not dreamed 
of for months ; gentle hands had smoothed their pillows and proffered 
needecl stimulants ; and sympathizing voices had bid them be of good 
cheer, for to-morrow would dawn bright for all. 

But were these worn and wretched men a fair sample of the army 
that was to battle for their dear city against the fresh thousands of 
McClellan? Oh, God! Had toil and privation done its work so 
thoroughly; and were these the proud array that had marched to 
Manassas — the hardened, but gallant host that had gone gaily to 
Yorktown? Were these the only dependence of their hopes and 
their cause ? 

Sad and troubled were the hearts that beat that day, around the 
wretched cots of the sufferers. But never a hand trembled — never a 
voice faltered, as those grand women wrought on at their mission of 
mercy. 

After these came a few stragglers and camp followers in hardly 
better plight ; then the wagon trains ; and, finally, the army. 

The roads were in wretched condition. Spring rains and constant 
use had churned them into liquid red mud. Hungry and worn, the 
men struggled through it day after day — bearing their atl on their 
backs, unable to halt for cooking; and frequently stopped to labor on 
a broken-down battery, or a mired wagon. Discipline naturally 
relaxed. It was impossible to keep the weary and half-starved men 
to regular routine. They straggled into Richmond muddy — dispirited 
— exhausted ; and, throwing themselves on cellar doors and sidewalks, 
slept heavily, regardless of curious starers that collected around every 
group. 

Never had the Southern army appeared half so demoralized ; half 
so unfit to cope with the triumphant and well-appointed brigades 
pressing close upon it. Had McClellan been at hand, there is little 
doubt as to what the result would have been; but a few days sufficed 
to change the appearance of the whole army fabric. 



Fotir Years tJt Rebel Capitals . 195 

Renewed discipline — that magnetic " touch of the elbow " — atten- 
tion to the commissariat and the healthy location of their new camp- 
ing grounds brought the men back to good condition in a time won- 
derfully short to the lookers-on in the city. 

But they were to have little rest. McClellan advanced to the 
Chickahominy and strongly fortified his position. Johnston fronted 
him ; and though too weak to attack at this moment, it became 
apparent that the first move in the game for the great stake must be 
made in a few days. And it was equally plain that it was to be made 
under the loving eyes of those all fought best for ; within hearing of 
the Cabinet itself! 

The details of the campaign of this eventful summer are too v/ell 
known — and have been too minutely and eloquently described, even 
were there space — for me to attempt their repetition here. 

For a week the armies faced each other, plainly in sight ; the shrill 
notes of " Dixie" mingling with the brazen strains from the Federal 
bands ; and yet no movement was made. Once mere Richmond 
assumed her old activity and became a vast camp. Busy looking 
officers hastened from point to point ; regiments shifting position 
passed through town every hour; mounted orderlies dashed in all 
directions and batteries, wagon trains and ambulances rumbled in and 
out of town by every road. The reflection of the activity around 
them, and the improved condition of the army — in physique and 
morale — inspired the people ; and they once more began to feel hope- 
ful, if not overconfident. 

Still the river was undefended. There was no fort. Only a few 
water batteries — out of which the men could easily be shelled — and a 
few useless wooden gunboats protected the water approach to the 
Capital. Up this the heavy fleet of Federal iron-clads was even now 
carefully sounding its way. Every means had been taken to wake 
the Government to the necessity of obstructing the river ; but either 
carelessness, or the confusion consequent on the retreat, had ren- 
dered them unavailing. Now at the last moment, every nerve was 
strained to block the river and to mount a few guns on Drewry's 
Bluff — a promontory eighty feet high, overhanging a narrow channel 
some nine miles below the city. 

On the 15th of May, the iron-clads approached the still unfinished 
obstructions. There was just time to sink the "Jamestown" — one 



196 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

of the wooden shells that had done such good work under the gallant 
Barney — in the gap; to send her crew and those of the "Virginia" 
and "Patrick Henry" to man the three guns mounted on the hill 
above — when the iron-clads opened fire. 

Their cannonade was terrific. It cut through the trees and landed 
the missiles a mile inland. The roar of the heavy guns, pent and 
echoed between the high banks, was like continuous thunder, lit by 
lurid flashes as they belched out 13-inch Shrapnel and scattered ounce 
balls like hail among the steadfast gunners on the bluff. 

But the terrible plunging fire of Captain Farrand's sea-dogs dam- 
aged the plating of the armored vessels and kept the wooden ones out 
of range ; while the galling sharp-shooting of Taylor Wood's men, on 
the banks below, cleared their decks and silenced their guns. Once 
more the wager of battle was decided for the South ; and the iron- 
clads retired badly damaged. 

This result was most cheering; but, unlike the early success of 
the war, it was received with a solemn, wordless thankfulness. Then, 
when the imminent danger was passed, the Government went rapidly 
to work to improve the obstruction and strengthen the battery at 
Drewry's Bluff. This became a permanent fort, admirably planned 
and armed with navy guns, worked by the seamen of the disused 
vessels. The Federals stuck to the name they first gave it — Fort 
Darling — for no reason, perhaps, but because of the tender reminis- 
cences clinging around it. 

Then came another season of stillness on the Chickahominy lines, 
which General McClellan improved to protect his rear communica- 
tions ; and to throw up strong embrasured fortifications along his whole 
front — indicating his intention to sit down before the city in regular 
siege ; or to fight behind his works. 

Meantime, the course of the Government would have inspired 
anything but confidence, had not the people placed the deepest and 
most abiding faith in the mettle and truth of their soldiers. 

Congress, after weak and more than useless debates on the 
propriety of the step, precipitately adjourned and ran away from the 
threatened danger. These wise legislators had read history. They 
felt that the cackling which saved Rome was but one of the miracles of 
that philosophic Muse who teaches by experience : and that — as they 
could not save their city — they had better save themselves. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 197 

The Departments were packed in case of necessity for flight ; and 
some of the archives were even put on board canal boats and towed 
beyond the city. This may have been only a just precaution; but 
the citizens of Richmond — looking upon its defense as the key to all 
further resistance — saw in it only acceptance of the worst results; 
and, when the families of the principal officials and officers fled from 
the Capital and sought safer homes in North Carolina and Georgia, 
her people would not accept as the real reason the averred necessity 
for saving the very small amount of provision they consumed. 

But the Legislature of Virginia and the City Council of Richmond 
met and resolved that they were willing to stand any loss of property 
and life — even the destruction of the city — before giving it up to the 
enemy. They waited upon the President and so explained to him. 
Mr. Davis solemnly announced his resolution to defend the position 
while a man remained ; and to cast his fate with that of a people 
who could act so bravely. 

Still, so doubtful was the issue of the contest held by the lukewarm, 
or cowardly, few that they hesitated not to express their belief that 
the war was done ; and they stored in secret places quantities of to- 
bacco to be used as currency when the invaders came in ! 

When the dies irm really came; and burning Richmond sent simi- 
larly hidden store, 

" With the smoke of its ashes to poison the gale " — 
little was the sympathy borne on the breeze for them, who — living 
early enough — had shamed the money-changers scourged from the 
Temple ! 



1 98 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



AROUND RICHMOND. 



In the dead stillness of the afternoon of May 30th, the dull thun- 
der of artillery and the crackling roll of musketry were distinctly 
heard in every house in Richmond. 

Deep and painful suspense filled all hearts ; until at night it was 
known that the enemy had been driven back and badly punished. 

The history of " Seven Pines" is familiar to all. Some days pre- 
vious, General Keyes' division had been thrown across the Chickahom- 
iny, for the purpose of feeling the Confederate lines and throwing 
up works that would secure the Federals that stream. The river, 
swelled by recent rains, rose so suddenly as to endanger Keyes' com- 
munications with his rear ; and Johnston determined to attack, while 
he could thus strike in detail. The miscarriage of part of his plan — 
by which Huger's troops did not join the attack — and his own wound, 
by a piece of shell, late in the afternoon, alone prevented Johnston's 
utter destruction of this Federal corps. As it was, the enemy was 
driven two miles back of his camp. Heavily re-enforced next day, he 
resisted and drove back a desperate attack about Fair Oaks. 

Now, for the first time, the people of Richmond began to see the 
realities of war. When the firing began, many ladies were at work 
for the soldiers in the churches. These flocked to the doors, pale 
and anxious, but with a steady determination in their faces, vainly 
looked for in many of the men. Gradually wagons and ambulances 
began to come in ; slowly at first, toward nightfall more rapidly — 
each one bearing some faint and suffering form. Then, and not till 
then, those women left their other work and tended the wounded 
men; giving "the little cup of water" so precious to them, speaking 
brave words of cheer while their very souls grew sick at the unwonted 
sight of blood and suffering. 

One poor old man, dirty and ragged, lay in a rough, springless 
cart ; his hard, shoeless feet dropping out at its back, and his long. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 199 

gray beard drenched in the blood that welled from his chest at every 
jolt. By his side, in the gathering twilight, walked one of Rich- 
mond's fairest daughters; her gentle voice smoothing the rough way 
to the hospital, and her soft hand wiping the damps from his forehead. 

And there was no romance in it. He could not be conjured into 
a fair young knight — old, dirty, vulgar as he was. But he had fought 
for her — for the fair city she loved better than life — and the gayest 
rider in all that band were not more a hero to her! 

Next morning the usual stillness of Sunday was broken by the re- 
newed rattle of musketry — though farther off and less continuous 
than the day before ; and by the more constant and nearer rumble of 
ambulance and dead cart. At dawn many of the townspeople had 
gone in buggies, wagons, and even the huge vans of the express com- 
panies, taking with them food and stimulants, to aid the very limited 
ambulance corps of the army. 

All day long the sad procession came in. Here a van with four 
or five desperately wounded stretched on its floor ; now a buggy with 
a faint and bandaged form resting on the driver; again the jolting 
coal cart with the still, stiff figure, covered by the blanket and not 
needing the rigid upturned feet to tell the story. The hospitals were 
soon overcrowded ; huge tobacco warehouses had been hastily fitted 
up and as hastily filled; while dozens of surgeons, bare-armed and 
bloody, flitted through them, doing what man might to relieve the 
fearful havoc man had made. 

Women of all ranks and of all ages crowded to them, too ; some 
wan and haggard, seeking with tearless suspense the dear one they 
knew to have been stricken dov/n; some bearing baskets of stimu- 
lants and nourishing food ; but one and all eager and willing 
" To do for those dear ones v/hat woman 
Alone in her pity can do." 

The struggle had been brief but bitter. Most of the wounds were 
above the waist, for the fighting had been among undergrowth and 
partly against abatis; but the short-range volleys had mowed the men 
down by ranks. More warerooms and even stores on Main street 
were opened, fitted with bunks, and filled with the maimed and suf- 
fering. 

At all hours, day and night, the passer down Main street would 
see through the open doors long, even rows of white bunks, each one 



200 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

bearing some form distorted witli agony, or calmly passing away ; 
while the tireless surgeon moved from cot to cot. And at the head 
of each a still, patient form, almost motionless, waved the ceaseless 
fan or breathed the low promise of the Living Word, to one who 
trembled on the verge of the Valley of the Shadow of Death. 

The war was at the very gates now. These palpable witnesses were 
too numerous to doubt. But the lips of every gaping wound spoke 
an eloquent pledge that, while such as these kept watch and ward, the 
city was safe. 

Little by little the hospitals thinned ; the slightly wounded went 
back to duty and the badly hurt began to hobble about. But on every 
hand were the gaunt, sad forms stretched on the narrow cots over 
which Life and Death wrestled for the mastery. And still the tireless 
love of woman watched by them — and still unworded prayers went 
up that the Destroyer might not prevail. 

The stillness that followed "Seven Pines" was not unbroken. 
The armies were so near together that the least movement of either 
brought on a collision, and constant skirmishing went on. Not a day 
but had its miniature battle ; and scarce an hour but added to the 
occupants of the hospitals. As these conflicts most frequently re- 
sulted in a Confederate success, they only served to encourage the 
people, and to bring them to the high pitch necessary for the pro- 
longed note of war that was soon to sound so near them. 

Just a month after the repulse of the iron-clads from Drewry's 
Bluff, the bold and daring " Pamunkey Raid" still further aided in 
this effect. General J. E. B. Stuart had by his successful conduct of 
the cavalry, no less than by his personal gallantry, worked his way 
from the colonelcy he held at Manassas to a major-generalcy of all 
that arm of the Virginia army. He had gained the confidence of 
General Lee and the greatest popularity in and out of the army; and, 
ably seconded by his brigadiers, "Jeb Stuart " was expected to do 
great deeds in the coming campaign. 

Information being desired of the enemy on certain points, he vol- 
unteered to obtain it. With the advice and direction of the com- 
manding-general, Stuart started from Richmond ; made his reconnais- 
sance ; penetrated to the White House on the Pamunkey and burned 
the depot there; whipped the enemy's cavalry wherever he met them; 
and, making a complete circuit of the Federal rear, with all his capt- 
ured men and horses, rode back into the city in triumph. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 201 

Whatever may be said of raids in the abstract, this was certainly 
a most dashing one ; and was received with loud acclamation by 
army and people. The latter were by this time in better spirit to re- 
ceive encouragement ; and, dazzled by its brilliance, rather than 
weighing its solid advantages, placed this achievement perhaps above 
the more useful success at Williamsburg. 

Then came the news from the Valley. 

That wonderful campaign — which far exceeds in strategic power, 
brilliant dash and great results any other combination of the war — 
had been fought and won ! It has been justly compared, by a compe- 
tent and eloquent critic, to Napoleon's campaign in Italy \ and— pal- 
ing all his other deeds — it clearly spoke Stonewall Jackson the Napo- 
leon of the South. 

Coolly looking back at its details, the thinker even now is struck 
with respectful wonder. 

Hurling his little force against Front Royal; flashing to Winchester 
and routing Banks ; slipping between the close converging lines of 
Fremont and Shields — ^just in time to avoid being crushed between 
them — and bearing with him miles of wagon train and spoils ; turning 
on the pursuing columns of Fremont, driving him back, and then 
sweeping Shields from his path like chaff — Jackson clears his way and 
marches on for Richmond ! 

Still onward, scarcely halting for food or rest — ever on to strike 
new terror when thought far away ; weary, footsore — with scarcely 
one-half its former number, but flushed with victory and panting for 
further fame — the little band toils on, passes around Richmond and, 
just as the opposing cannon begin their last grim argument for her 
possession, hurl themselves like an Alpine torrent on the flank of the 
enemy ! 

The loss in this wonderful campaign was comparatively small, 
when we consider the rapidity of the movements ; the terrible marches 
and the stubborn fighting against overwhelming numbers. 

But there was one place vacant that none could fill. There was 
one name that brought the cloud to the brow of the giddiest youth, 
or the tear to the eye of the toughest veteran in those sturdy ranks ; 
one name that stilled the song on the march and hushed the rough 
gossip of the bivouac to a saddened whisper. Turner Ashby was 
dead ! 



202 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

True knight — doughty leader — high-hearted gentleman — he had 
fallen when the fighting was well-nigh over — his devoir nobly done 
and his name as stainless as the bright blade he ever flashed foremost 
in the fight ! 

Chivalric — lion-hearted — strong armed — 

" Well they learned, whose hands have slain him, 
Braver, knightlier foe 
Never fought 'gainst Moor or Paynim — 
Rode at Templestowe ! " 

All the country missed Ashby. But Virginia mourned him most; 
and among her stricken sons, those hard-handed, ragged heroes of 
Jackson's Old Guard — who had marched the furthest and fought the 
hardest following him — were the chiefest mourners. Jackson had 
reared a noble monument, to be viewed from all the dimmest vistas of 
the future. But the fair column was shattered near its top ; and the 
laurel leaves that twined it were mingled with evergreen cypress. 

Then the strained suspense was broken. On the 26th of June 
began that memorable series of fights that northern and southern 
historj' — voluminous reports of generals and detailed accounts of 
newspapers, have made familiar to all who care to read of battles. 

A. P. Hill's steady attack at Mechanicsville, though at great cost, 
drove the enemy's right wing back ; to be struck next morning on the 
flank by Jackson and sent, after a sullen and bloody resistance, to 
the works near Gaines' Mill. Still on the barefooted boys press with 
resistless rush, leaving dead or mangled brothers and writhing foemen 
in their gory track ! Never pausing to look back, but each successive 
day driving the enemy at the bayonet's point from works frowning 
with cannon. 

Cold Harbor has told its brilliant story. Frasier's Farm is fought 
and won ! 

With ranks fearfully thinned, scant of food and pausing not to 
rest, the struggling men press on — ever on ! Weary and faltering on 
the march, the first sharp crack of the rifle lights a new fire in every 
eye; and drinking the hot breath of the battle, 

•' Stalwart, they court like Anak's sons 
The rapture of the fight !" 

The tide of the battle swung round and the retreating army of 
McClellan — fighting steadily by day and retreating noiselessly in the 
night — fronted from the city which now lay on its left flank. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 203 

The Federals were neither demoralized, nor panic struck, as has 
been sometimes believed ; and such an error, while it has bloody 
refutation in the nameless graves that make the track of these fights 
precious to the southron — does less than justice to the constancy and 
enduring valor of the little army that wrung the victory from them 
at such fearful CQst. 

Their retreat was orderly and steady. Driven each day from 
works on which they relied — marking their path with untold destruc- 
tion of munitions, supplies and even of food on which they depended 
— the soldiers of the North were well held together ; never refusing 
to turn and face the resistless foe that hurled itself against them, care- 
less alike of cannon and steel, weariness and death ! 

There can be little doubt now of the consummate tact of McClellan's 
retreat. It is the bright page in the northern annals of strategy. 
Beaten each day and driven from his well-chosen strongholds — clear- 
ly chosen with a view to such necessities — he still held his army 
thoroughly in his grasp and carried it off in such order as no Federal 
force had yet preserved in the face of retreat. Only the resistless 
impetuosity of the southern troops drove all before them ; and though 
careful analysis may prove in theory that, but for the blunder of a 
subordinate, Lee could one day have utterly destroyed him, this fact 
should not detract, in the impartial mind, from the great ability of 
McClellan which really prevented it. 

Still, up to the last bloody day at Malvern Hill, the city lay open 
to the Federal general had he known the truth. Between him and 
the coveted prize was a mere handful of men, who could have offered 
but slight resistance to his overwhelming numbers ; the main army of 
defense was in his front, further away than many points of his re- 
treat ; and, had he fully understood the position, a bold and dashing 
stroke of generalship might have turned the scale, spite of all the red 
successes of southern arms. More than once in the " Seven Days" 
a rapid march by the flank would have put McClellan in possession of 
the Capital and secured him in its strong defenses; from which the 
wearied troops of Lee could scarcely have ejected him. 

But it was not to be. When the shattered and torn Confederates 
drew off, like lions at bay, from the horrid slopes of Malvern Hill — 
leaving them drenched with priceless blood and piled thick with near 
one-third their number — McClellan declined further battle and with- 
drew his beaten army to the fleet. 



204 JFour Yrars in Rclul CopHa/s. 

He had made a great retreat. Bat he had lost his great stake. 

When the armies lay at Mechanicsville, both were plainly visible 
from many points in the city. From the Capitol, miles of encamp- 
ment could be seen, spreading out like a map; and in the dusk the 
red flash of each gun and the fiery trail of its fatal messenger were 
painfully distinct. The evening before Hill's advance, the poet-libra- 
rian of the Capitol was pointing out the localities to a company of 
officers and ladies. Among them was a lady who had suflered mucli 
in the flesh and been driven from her home for brave exertions in 
that cause, which was in the end to leave her widowed spirit with 
no hope on this side of the narrow house. A terrific thunder- 
storm had just passed over the hostile hosts; but the dense masses of 
cloud had rolled away to the river, leaving it in deep shadow, while 
a bright reflection from the sunset wrapped both camps in a veil of 
mellow light. Not a shot disturbed the still peacefulness of the scene, 
to give token of the wild work already shaped out for the next 
week. Suddenly a glorious rainbow shaped itself in the transparent 
mist over the Confederate camp, spanning it from end to end. 
The lady pointed it to the poet. 

** I hail the omen ! " she said. " It is a token of God's promise 
that yonder flood will not overwhelm us! That His hand will be 
raised as of old, to hurl it back from His chosen people ! " 

And when the omen was accomplished and Richmond was safe, 
the poet sent the lady those classic lines so well-known in the South 
—"The Battle Rainbow." 

Next afternoon the great fight began. Tlie sharp, quick rattle of 
small arms, and the dull incessant boom of artillery told of hot work 
even nearer than " Seven Pines." So sharp and clear were the reports 
that it seemed the fight must be on the very edge of town; and the 
windows rattled at every discharge. 

Almost every man, worthy of the name, was at the front; but the 
brave and steadfast women of Richmond collected in groups and — 
while they listened with blanched faces and throbbing hearts — still 
tried to cheer and comfort each other. 

They spoke of the past ; of their faith in the flower of the South 
at that moment battling for them ; and they heard the sound of the 
cannon growing farther and fainter, only to feel more loving trust in 
those who, under God, had saved them from that chiefest of ills ! 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 205 

Day by day, as tlie tide of battle surged farther off, it sent into 
Richmond cheering news that nerved afresh these brave hearts for 
the horror to come. Gaines' Mill, Cold Harbor and Frasier's Farm 
rolled back their echoes of triumph ; news carne of the strait into 
which McClellan was driven and that one day more must see him a 
prisoner in the city he had dared — his splendid host swept away and de- 
stroyed. Finally the news of Malvern Hill — the wild shout of battle 
scarce drowning the death-cry — sent a thrill of mingled agony and 
pride to their very heart's core. 

But day by day, as the red tide rolled back, it swept into Rich- 
mond terrible fragments of the wreck it had made. Every convey- 
ance that could follow the army, or could be pressed from the almost 
stripped country around it, bore in from the River Road its load of 
misery. Manassas had hinted the slaughter of a great fight ; Seven 
Pines had sketched all the hard outlines of the picture ; but the .Seven 
Days put in the dismal shadows, with every variation of grotesque 
horror. 

In the dearth of transfxsrtation and the hurry of onward move- 
ment, many had been left for days with- stiffening wounds on the field, 
or roadside. Others had undergone the loss of limbs at field hospi- 
tals; some were bent and distorted in their agony; and again the stiff, 
set jaw and wide, glassy eye, told that the journey was over before 
the end was reached. 

The chain of regular hospitals and even the temporary one — nearly 
emptied since Seven Pines — now rapidly filled and overflowed. 
Private houses swung wide their doors and took in wounded men — 
brothers alike if gentle-blooded Louisianian, or hard-handed mount- 
ainmen — and the women, one and all, wrought as if their energies 
had never before been taxed or even tested. 

But a black shadow had come and brooded deep over Richmond. 
Half the gentle forms gliding noiselessly among the suffering were 
draped in black ; and many a pale face was saddened with an anguish 
deeper than furrowed those resting on the coarse pillows around. 

The fight was won. The enemy that had for months flaunted his 
victorious flag in full sight of the Capitol was bafiled and beaten. 
New glories had clustered round the flag of the South; new quarrels 
and doubts had been sent to the North. Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, 
the Hills and Hood had added fresh laurels to brows believed to have 



2o6 Four Years i?i Rebel Capitals. 

room for no leaf more. Almost every officer had proved himself 
worthy of the prayers of such women as the South owned — of that 
even higher glory of leading such troops as fought to defend them. 

But at what awful cost had all this been bought ! The slaughter 
of their nearest and dearest had been terrific : women, the highest 
and lowliest, met by the cot of the sufferer ; and, in the free masonry 
of love, tended the living and comforted each other for their dead. 

But through the brave endeavor of their sacred office, these noble 
sisters of mercy showed no yielding to the claims of self Over 
their own sorrows they rose triumphant — tended the faint — cheered 
the despondent — filling the place of wife and mother to those who 
should nevermore see home — even while 

"The air is filled with farewells to the dying 
And wailings for the dead ; 
The voice of Rachel for her children crying 
Can not be comforted." 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 207 



CHAPTER XXIV. » 

ECHO OF SEVEN DAYS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 

The result of the "Seven Days" was to produce a profound joy- 
ousness in the South, which lightened even those deep shadows from 
the sorrows that had fallen upon individuals; to raise the spirits of the 
whole people and to send into every heart that loved the cause a glow 
of confident pride in the southern soldier — chastened somewhat by 
present sorrow and tempered, perhaps, by the lessons of the past — that 
nothing in their after misfortumes could quench. 

But while it taught the people this, the victory taught the Govern- 
ment that no energy could be too great — no watchfulness misplaced, 
in preparing for the heavy blows of the northern government at all 
times, and at any point, to carry out its pet scheme of reducing the 
southern Capital. 

The blatant triumph that had followed other victories and the 
secure apathy of the southern government, had alike been swept away 
by that terrific surge of battle, rolled back harmlessly, only when on 
the point of overwhelming us ; and in their stead came the deep- 
seated resolve to act in the present, even while they dreamed in the 
future. 

In the North, a hoarse roar of rage went up. The good behavior 
of their troops and the great ability of their general — unquestioned 
even by the men who had steadily fought and doggedly driven him 
before them — were both lost sight of in the wild wail that went up 
over — the cost! 

Millions upon millions had been spent in equipping the grand 
army — all wasted now in that futile effort to conquer the Rebel Capital 
— offered as a burnt offering to the avenging War God; and only the 
blood of its thousands to manure the fields in front of the coveted 
city! 

There was a howl of malediction against the only general so far 
tried — who had proved himself a tactician in anything but name; and 



2o8 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

as part of its policy the northern government shamelessly sacrificed 
McClellan, while it could not but unhesitatingly acknowledge his 
merit. 

Unlike the South, the North throughout the whole war bent its 
every energy toward concentrating the most useful elements among 
?ts many parties. Seeming to bend to the will of each; propitiating all 
popular elements and utilizing all able ones ; listening patiently to the 
mouthing of demagogues and the vituperation of the press; dis- 
tributing its contracts so as to make every dollar of patronage tell; 
and handling the great engine, Wall street, in masterly style — the 
Washington government simply collected and sifted the varied mass 
of opinion and material — to form from it a composite amalgam-policy 
that proved its only salvation. Through every change in that 
policy — through every gradation of animus that affected the complex- 
ion of the war — the masses of the North really believed they were 
fighting for the Constitution — for the flag, and for the Union ! 

Whether they were so tightly blindfolded as not yet to see their 
error, is no question to be discussed here. 

No sooner had the howl gone up through the North, against the 
General who — spite of refused re-enforcements, jealousy and intrigue 
behind his back, and the terrible enemy before him — had saved his 
army, than the Government responded to it. Large numbers of men 
were sent from Harrison's Landing to Acquia Creek ; the Federal 
forces at Warrentown, Alexandria and Fredericksburg were mobilized 
and strengthened ; and the baton of command was wrenched from 
the hand of McClellan to be placed in that of Major-General John 
Pope ! 

The history of this new popular hero, to this time, may be summed 
up by saying that he had been captain of Topographical Engineers ; 
and that the books of that bureau showed he had prosecuted his 
labors with perhaps less economy than efliciency. 

Rapidly promoted for unknown reasons in the western armies, the 
public hit upon him as the right man at last ; and the complaisant 
Government said : " Lo! the man is here! " and made him general- 
in-chief of the Army of Virginia. 

From the command of Pope dates a new era in the war. No 
longer a temperate struggle for authority, it became one for conquest 
and annihilation. He boldly threw oif the mask that had hitherto 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 209 

concealed its uglier features, and commenced a systematic course of 
pillage and petty pfundering — backed by a series of curiously bom- 
bastic and windy orders. 

Calmly to read these wonderful effusions — dated from "Headquar- 
ters in the saddle " — by the light of his real deeds, one could only 
conceive that General Pope coveted that niche in history filled 
by Thackeray's O' Grady Gahagan; and that much of his reading 
had been confined to the pleasant rambles of Gulliver and the 
doughty deeds of Trenck and Munchausen. 

To sober second thought, the sole reason for his advancement 
might seem his wonderful power as a braggart. He blustered and 
bragged until the North was bullied into admiration ; and his sound- 
ing boasts that he had "only seen the backs of his enemies," and 
that he had "gone to look for the rebel, Jackson" — were really 
taken to mean what they said. When Pope did at last "find the 
rebel, Jackson," the hopeful public over the Potomac began to be- 
lieve that their truculent pet might have simply paraphrased Falstaff, 
and cried — 

"Lying and thieving have blown me up like a bladder! " 
For Jackson gave the bladder a single prick, and lo ! it collapsed. 

Resting his wearied and shattered troops only long enough to get 
them again into fighting trim, General Lee prepared to check the 
third great advance upon Manassas. Working on the inner line and 
being thus better able to concentrate his strength, he left only 
enough troops around Richmond to delay any advance of McClellan 
from the Peninsula; and, before the end of July, sent Stonewall 
Jackson — with Ewell's, A. P. Hill's, and his own old division under 
General Charles S. Winder, in all about 10,000 men — to frustrate 
the flatulent designs of the gong-sounding commander, whose Chinese 
warfare was echoing so loudly from the frontier. 

Cautious, rapid and tireless as ever, Jackson advanced into Cul- 
peper county ; and on the 9th of August gave the gong-sounder his 
first lesson on the field of Cedar Mountain. Throwing a portion of 
his force under Early on the enemy's flank and bringing Ewell and, 
later, Winder against his front, Jackson forced him from his position 
after a bloody fight, which the advance of A, P. Hill turned into a 
complete victory. 

Cedar Mountain was a sharp and well-contested fight ; but the 
14 



2IO Fotir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

•Confederates inflicted a loss five times their own, held the field, and 
captured a number of prisoners and guns. General Winder led his 
troops gallantly to the charge, but just at the moment of collision he 
was struck and mortally wounded by a shell. And the unstained 
spirit of the gallant son of Maryland winged its flight, ere the shouts 
of victory could cheer it on its way ! 

The Washington government at once ordered the remains of Mc- 
Clellan's army to General Pope; and massing with them Burnside's 
army at Fredericksburg and the vicinity, strained every nerve to aid 
his successful advance. 

But here we may digress for the moment, to take a bird's-eye view 
of matters of grave moment passing in distant quarters of the Con- 
federacy. 

While victory had perched upon Confederate banners in Virginia, 
a heavy cloud was gathering over the West ; threatening to burst and 
sweejD ruin and destruction over the whole trans-AUeghany region. 
Not dispirited by the reverses in Virginia, the northern government 
remitted nothing of its designs upon the West, but rather pushed 
them toward more rapid completion. These designs were to hold 
the State of Kentucky by the army under Buell, wrest from the South 
the possession of Tennessee and Alabama — as a base for attack upon 
Georgia and cutting through to the seaboard; and to push the army 
under Grant down through Mississippi to the Gulf. These movements 
would not only weaken the Confederacy, by diverting so many men, 
ill to be spared, to watch the various columns; but would, moreover, 
wrest from it the great grain-producing and cattle-grazing sections 
from which the armies were mainly fed. Simultaneously with 
these a heavy force was to be massed under McClernand in Ohio, to 
sweep down the Mississippi; while the weak show of Confederate 
force in the states west of the river was to be crushed before it could 
make head. 

Such was the Federal programme ;, well conceived and backed by 
every appliance of means, men and material. To meet it we had 
but a small numerical force to defend an extensive and varied-tract; 
and at the Capital grave fears began to prevail that the overpowering 
numbers and points of attack would crush the little armies we could 
muster there. 

Nor was the feeling of the people rendered more easy by their 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 211 

confidence in the general to whom the defense of this invaluable sec- 
tion was entrusted. General Braxton Bragg — however causeless and 
unjust their dictum may have been — had never been popular with the 
southern masses. They regarded him as a bloodthirsty martinet, and 
listened too credulously to all silly stories of his weakness and severity 
that were current, in the army and out. Influenced rather by preju- 
dice than by any real knowledge of the man, they believed him vain, 
arrogant and weak ; denying him credit for whatever real administra- 
tive ability that he possessed. The painful result of his command 
was later emphasized by the pessimists, to justify their incredulity as 
to his executive powers. 

Besides, many people believed that General Bragg was a pet — if 
not a creature of Mr. Davis ; and that he was thrust into a position 
that others deserved far more, when he succeeded Beauregard in com- 
mand of the army of the West. 

The latter officer had, after the evacuation of Corinth, been com- 
pelled to retire by ill health ; and Bragg was soon sent to take his 
place, with the understanding in the minds of the people that Ken- 
tucky was to be the theater of active operations, and that a pro- 
gramme of aggression — rather than of defense — was to be carried 
out, as suggested by Beauregard. 

General Bragg entered upon his command with a show of great 
vigor — falling into General Beauregard's viev/s that a diversion to- 
ward Ohio, threatening Cincinnati, would leave the main army free 
to march upon Louisville before re-enforcements could reach Buell. 
With this view General Kirby Smith, with all the troops that could be 
spared — ill clad, badly equipped, and with no commissariat — was 
pushed forward toward the Ohio. On the 29th of August — while 
o-ur victorious cannon were still echoing over the field of the second 
Manassas — he met and defeated the enemy at Richmond; pressed on 
to Lexington, and thence to a point in easy reach of Cincinnati — at 
that moment not only the great granary and storehouse of the Federal 
armies of the West, but their depot and arsenal as well ; her wharves 
crowded with transports, quartermasters' steamers and unfinished 
gunboats, and her warehouses bursting with commissary and ord- 
nance stores. 

When the news of Smith's triumphant march to the very gates of 
Cincinnati reached Richmond, it was universally believed that the 



212 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

city would be captured, or laid in ashes ; and thinking men saw great 
results in the delay such destruction would cause to the advance of 
the enemy into the heart of their territory. 

Meantime, General Bragg had entered Kentucky from Chatta- 
nooga, with an army re-enforced and better equipped than had been 
seen in that section since the war began. Once more cheering re- 
ports came to Richmond that the Confederates were in full march 
for the enemy ; that any moment might bring news of the crushing of 
Buell before re-enforcements, or fresh supplies, could reach him. 
Great was the disappointment, therefore, when news really came of the 
withdrawal of southern troops from before Cincinnati ; and that all 
action of Bragg's forces would be postponed until Smith's junction 
with him. 

Intense anxiety reigned at the Capital, enlivened only by the fitful 
report of the fight at Munfordville — inflicting heavy loss upon both 
sides, but not productive of any result ; for, after the victory, Bragg 
allowed Buell to escape from his front and retire at his will toward 
the Ohio. That a Confederate army, at least equal in all respects, 
save perhaps numbers, to that of the enemy, should thus allow him 
to escape was then inexplicable to the people ; and, as far as I have 
learned, it is so still. 

There is no critic so censorious as the self-appointed one ; no god 
so inexorable as the people's voice. General Bragg's last hold upon 
the southern masses — military and civil — was lost now. 

The fight at Munfordville occurred on the 17th of September, 
but it was not until the 4th of the next month that the junction with 
Smith was effected at Frankfort. Then followed a Federal advance 
upon that town, which proved a mere diversion ; but it produced the 
effect of deceiving General Bragg and of causing him to divide his 
forces. Hardee's and Buckner's divisions were sent to Perryville ; 
and they with Cheatham's — who joined them by a forced march — 
bore the brunt of the battle of Perryville on the 8th of October. 
Notwithstanding the great disparity of numbers, the vim of the 
"barefooted boys" prevailed against the veterans of Buell's army, 
under General G. "W. Thomas. They gained a decided advantage 
over three times their number, but once again what was a mere suc- 
cess might have been a crushing defeat, had Bragg's whole army been 
massed at Perryville. 



Fotir Years in Rebel Capitals. 213 

It is neither within the scope nor the purpose of this chapter to 
give more than a bare skeleton of events, or to discuss the dehcate 
points of strategy ; but it was a great dash to the hopes of the entire 
people that what might have been a crushing blow to Buell — freeing 
three states from Federal occupation — resulted only in the retreat of 
the Confederates from Kentucky. 

For, whatever may have been the cause, or the necessity for the 
movement, the army was hastily M'ithdrawn. Supplies were burned; 
disabled carriages and abandoned arms marked the retreat; and the 
terror-stricken people who had, a few weeks before, dismissed the 
southern banners with vivas and blessings to certain victory, now 
saw that same army, to their dismay and sorrow, filing sadly and 
wearily toward the border. 

Almost equally as astonished as their retreating enemy, the Fed- 
erals pressed on in pursuit, hot and close; and it was only the ability 
and dash with which General Wheeler covered the retreat of the 
army — laden as it was with captured arms and munitions, and en- 
cumbered with crowds of women and children, who dared not stay 
behind — that saved it from destruction on that disastrous road from 
Perryville to Cumberland Gap. 

Loud, deep and bitter were the comments of the people when the 
full news of the Kentucky campaign reached them. Unpopular as 
the name of Bragg had been before, it was now mentioned often with 
execration ; and the reverses of his universally-condemned favorite 
reacted upon the popularity of Mr. Davis as well. Without under- 
standing the details of the campaign, and with no patience to listen 
to the excuses of his few defenders, the public voice was unanimous 
in denunciation of the plan and conduct of the whole movement; 
and it arraigned the President for the fault of his inferior, calling him 
to trial before a jury that daily was becoming more biased and more 
bitter against him. 

Like all the gloomy pages of Confederate history, the Kentucky 
campaign was illumined by flashes of brilliance, dash and enduring 
courage, surpassed by no theater of the war. Disastrous as it was in 
result, it fixed more firmly than ever the high reputation of Kirby 
Smith; it wreathed the names of Buckner, Hardee, Cheatham and 
Adams with fresh bays ; and it gave to Joseph Wheeler a record that 
the people of that country will long remember. 



2 14 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

In the events first preceding the disaster, too, as well as in his in- 
dependent raid during July, John H. Morgan had added additional 
luster to his rising star, that was only to culminate in his exploits 
of the next year. These were the brighter gleams -, but the whole 
picture was, indeed, a somber one ; and there can be no wonder at the 
people's anger and distrust when they looked upon it. For it showed 
a vast and rich territory, teeming with those supplies needed most, 
yielded up to the full uses of the enemy ; a people one with the 
South at heart given over to oppression of an alien soldiery and un- 
able to co-operate with their own long days to come ; and across 
the face of the somber picture was drawn the track of the blood of 
hundreds of brave men ; sacrificed needlessly, the people said — and 
in a manner stupid, if not barbarous. 

A grave injustice had been done the people of Kentucky, because 
of their conduct during the retreat. Baseless charges of their cow- 
ardice and treachery had been bandied about in the mouths of the 
unreflecting ; the many had been made to suffer for the baseness of 
the few ; and the shield of the state had been tarnished because of an 
inaction her people could not avoid. 

Crushed, bound and deserted, as they were — with their only- 
reliance fading away from their eyes, and a bitter and triumphant 
enemy in hot pursuit at their very doors — it would have been worse 
than folly — it would have been suicide ! had the people on the line 
of that retreat offered a blatant sympathy. Utterly useless to others 
it must have been — and even more ruinous to themselves ! 

And this is the verdict of that Justice who, though slow of foot, 
fails not to overtake Truth, in her own good time. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 215 



CHAPTER XXV, 



THE WAR IN THE WEST. 



And misfortunes did not come singly, but in battalions. 

The trans-Mississippi was so far distant that only broken echoes of 
its troubles could penetrate the web of hostile armies between it and 
the Capital. But those echoes were all of gloom. Desultory warfare 
— with but little real result to either side, and only a steady drain on 
Confederate resources and men — had waged constandy. A trifling 
success had been gained at Lone Jack, but it was more than done away 
with by aggregate losses in bloody guerrilla fighting. Spies, too, had 
been shot on both sides; but the act that came home to every southern 
heart was the wanton murder of ten Confederates at Palmyra, by the 
order of General McNeil , on the flimsy pretext of retaliation. The 
act, and its attendant cruelties, gained for him in the South the name 
of **The Butcher;" and its recital found grim response in every 
southern camp — as each hard hand clasped tighter round the hard 
musket stock — and there was an answering throb to the cry of 
Thompson's prompt war song : 

" Let this be the watchword of one and of all — 
Remember the Butcher, McNeil ! " 

Meantime, Mississippi had been the scene of new disasters. Vicks- 
burg, the " Queen of the West," still sat unhurt upon her bluffs, 
smiling defiance to the storm of hostile shot and shell; teaching a 
lesson of spirit and endurance to which the whole country looked 
with admiration and emulation. On the 15th of August the iron-clad, 
ram, ''Arkansas," had escaped out of the Yazoo river; run the 
gaundet of the Federal fleet at Vicksburg and made safe harbor, 
under the town, to aid in its heroic defense. 

Twenty days thereafter. General Breckinridge made a most chiv^ 
alrous and dashing, but equally useless and disastrous, attack upon 
Baton Rouge. His small force was greatly outnumbered by the 
garrison, behind heavy works and aided by a heavy fleet of gunboats : 



2i6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

and after a splendidly gallant fight, that had but one serious result — 
he was forced to withdraw. That result was the loss of the ram 
Arkansas — which went down to co-operate with this movement. Her 
machinery became deranged, and there was only the choice of sur- 
rendering her to the enemy, or of sending her the road that every 
Confederate iron-clad went sooner, or later — and she was blown up. 

But the gloom was only to grow deeper and deeper, with thickening 
clouds and fewer gleams of light. 

After the fight at luka, in which that popular darling had been 
defeated and forced to fall back before superior numbers, Price had 
combined his army with that of Van Dorn; and on the 3d of October, 
the latter led them to another wild and Quixotic slaughtering — stand- 
ing out among the deeds even of that stirring time, in bold relief for 
brilliant, terrible daring, and fearful slaughter — but hideous in its 
waste of life for reckless and ill-considered objects. The forces of 
the enemy at Corinth were in almost impregnable works ; and Van 
Dorn — after worsting them in a hot fight on the 3d, and driving them 
into these lines, next day attacked the defenses themselves and was 
driven back. Officers and men behaved with a cool and brilliant 
daring that savored more of romance than of real war ; deeds of per- 
sonal prowess beyond precedent were done ; and the army of Missis- 
sippi added another noble page to its record — but written deep and 
crimson in its best blood. 

And another piteous cry was wrung from the hearts of the people 
to know how long, O, Lord! were these terrible scenes — killings, 
not battles; and with no result but blood and disaster! — to be re- 
enacted. 

After its retreat from Kentucky, Bragg's army rested for over a 
month at Murfreesboro, the men recruiting from the fatigues of that 
exhausting campaign ; and enjoying themselves with every species of 
amusement the town and its kindhearted inhabitants offered — in that 
careless reaction from disaster that ever characterized "Johnny Reb. " 
There was no fresh defeat to discourage the anxious watchers at a 
distance; while the lightning dashes of John Morgan, wherever there 
was an enemy's railroad or wagon train ; and the flail-like blows of 
Forrest, gave both the army and the people breathing space. 

But fresh masses of Federals were hovering upon the track of the 
ill-starred Bragg, threatening to pounce down upon and destroy 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 217 

him — even while he believed so much in their inaction as to think of 
forcing them into an advance. The Federals now held West and 
Middle Tennessee, and they only needed control of East Tennessee 
to have a sohd base of operations against Northern Georgia. 
Once firmly established there, they could either force their way 
across the state and connect with their Atlantic seaboard fleets; or 
could cut the sole and long line of railroad winding through the Con- 
federate territory; thus crippling the whole body by tapping its main 
vital artery, and causing death by depletion. Rosecrans, with an 
army of between forty and fifty thousand men, was lying in Nash- 
ville, watching and waiting the moment for his telling blow. 

This was the posture on Christmas, 1862. Three days after the 
enemy struck — heavily and unexpectedly. 

The first intimation General Bragg had of the movement was cav- 
alry skirmishes with his advance. These continued daily, increasing 
in frequency and severity until the 30th of December, when the con- 
tending armies were near enough for General Polk to have a heavy 
light with the Federal right. 

Next day, the weather being bitter and the driving sleet filling the 
atmosphere, the general battle was joined. McCowan and Cleburne, 
under Hardee, charged the Federal's right through a deadly hail of 
artillery and small arms, that darkened the air as thickly as the sleet 
— driving him back at the bayonet's point and swinging his front 
round from his center. The fierce valor of the southern troops and 
the brilliant dash of their leaders was resistless ; and evening fell upon 
a field, wet with the blood of the South, but clearly a field of victory. 
Though the Federals fought with desperation, they were so badly hurt 
that Bragg believed they would fall back that night, in such confusion 
as to leave them his easy prey. 

Morning of the New Year dawned cold, dark and stormy; but the 
enemy was still in sight, having only taken up a stronger position on 
a hill and posted his artillery most advantageously. It began to look 
as if General Bragg's telegram to Richmond of the victory he had 
gained, might require a postscript ; but all that long New Year's day 
he allowed the enemy time to recuperate and strengthen his position. 

It seemed as though another Shiloh was to be re-enacted; a vic- 
tory wrenched from heavy odds by valor and skill was to be nullified 
by delay in crushing the enemy, while yet demoralized. 



2i8 Fotir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Next day came ; and then Breckinridge was sent through a terrific 
storm of balls and shell, that cut down his gallant boys like grass 
before the scythe. On, into the Valley of the Shadow they strode ; 
thinned, reeling, broken under that terrible hail — but never blench- 
ing. And the crest was won! but the best blood of Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and North Carolina was 
flooding that horrid field! Over two thousand noble fellows lay stiff, 
or writhing with fearful wounds — thick upon the path behind the vic- 
torious column. 

And then — with that fatality that seemed ever to follow the fort- 
unes of the unfortunate general in command — the army fell back! 

Broken was the goblet of victory ; wasted the wine of life ! And it 
was accepted as but small consolation, by the people who hoped and 
expected so much — small surcease to the sob of the widow and the 
moan of the orphan! that "the retreat to TuUahoma was conducted 
in good order." 

And again the public voice rose loud and hoarse and threatening 
against the general and the President, whose favorite he was declared 
to be. 

But amid the darkening clouds that frowned close and threatening 
upon him — fearless of the future and heedless of the ominous roar 
of dissatisfaction far and near — sat the ruling spirit of the storm he 
had raised. Grim, steady and purposeful, Jefferson Davis worked 
his busy brain and frail body almost past belief, to redeem the 
errors of his chosen instruments — seeking no counsel, asking no 
aid — and day by day losing the confidence of the sand-shifting pop- 
ulace, who had once made him their God! And one act of his now 
did more than all besides to reassure the public mind. 

Joseph E. Johnston was sent to command the armies of the 
West! Since his wound at " Seven Pines," the Government — from 
causes unknown to the people — had allowed this brilliant soldier to 
rust in inactivity ; and now, when all of evil that ill-fortune and want 
of combination could accomplish had been done in the West, he was 
singled out, and sent forth to reap the harvest so bitterly sown. He 
was told, in effect, to take the frayed and scattered ends of armies 
and campaigns and bind them into a firm and resisting chain of 
strategy; or — to bear the sins of others upon his shoulders and have 
the finger of History point to him as the man who lost the West ! 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 219 

But patriot soldier and true knight as he was — little resentful of the 
coldness of Government as he was doubtful of his own ability — 
" Joe Johnston" accepted the test cheerily and went forth to do, or 
die. 

" For the Johnstons have ever borne wings on their spurs, 

And their motto a noble distinction confers 

^Ever ready ! ' for friend, or for foe ! " 

And this worthy son of noble sires went to clear the Augean Stables 
of the West; and the God-speed of his own state — swelled into a 
hearty chorus by the voice of the country — followed him on his 
knightly errand! 

Meantime, Lincoln's famous Proclamation of Emancipation had 
been promulgated. It made little difference to the people of the 
South ; for it was at that time looked upon as a vaunt as idle as if he 
had declared the throne of England vacant. Secure in their belief 
in their right doing, and in the trusty arms and deadly rifles that de- 
fended it, the southern masses never dreamed the day would come 
when that proclamation would be more than the paper upon which it 
was engrossed. Still, in the general gloom upon them, it was taken 
as but another augury of the bitter spirit animating their enemies ; and 
of the extent to which it would dr've them in this war for the Union 
and flag. 

And so the close of '62 fell dark and dismal upon the distracted 
country; enlivened only by the sole gleam in Virginia — the repulse 
of Burnside from Fredericksburg. But even the joy for this triumph 
was dashed by the precious blood spilled to purchase it ; another vent 
for that steady drain of men, material and endurance — already almost 
past bearing. 

But there was no weak yielding in Government, or in people. 
Men looked at each other through the gloom, and even as they asked 
— "Brother, what of the night?" — struck hands in a clasp that 
meant renewed faith in the cause and renewed determination to 
prove its right. 

Early in the New Year, rews reached Richmond of Magruder's 
amphibious victory, the recapture of Galveston ; which town had 
fallen a prey to the enemy's naval power early in October. On the 
last night of '62 — while the wearied troops of Bragg were sleeping 
on the bloody field of Murfreesboro — General Magruder, with a mixed 



2 20 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

command of three regiments of raw infantry, some nineteen pieces 
of field artillery, and a boarding fleet of four unarmed boats, came 
down silently to Galveston. The Federal fleet — consisting of the 
Harriet Lane, the Clifton, the Westfield and the Ossawa — were lying 
just off the town ; covering it with their broadsides and supported 
by a force of infantry. 

Coming suddenly upon them, like shadows through the darkness, 
Magruder's land force opened a hot fire with field artillery — and aid- 
ed by the daring boarding of the Lane by Colonel Leon Smith's co- 
operating water party — captured the former steamer, burned one other, 
and drove the remaining ones, with their tenders, to sea ; where it 
was impossible to follow them. 

This gallant and comparatively bloodless raising of the Galveston 
blockade was a gleam of hopeful light ; especially as it was almost 
coincident with the first approach to a naval success, by the force of 
Commodore Ingraham in Charleston Harbor on the 30th of January. 
The vessels under his command were ill-built, awkward tubs — as will 
hereafter be seen ; but the terrible Brooke gun did its work at long 
range, and drove the wooden blockading fleet from the harbor for the 
moment. 

This victory, unimportant as it was — for the blockade it claimed 
to raise was renewed and strengthened within a few days — was cheer- 
ing; for, said the people, if the Confederates can succeed on the 
water, surely the star of the South is not really on the wane. 

But there was, after the New Year, a sudden stoppage of active 
movements on both sides. The terrific crash of hostile cannon — the 
continuous roar of opposing small arms — and the groan of the Fed- 
eral mixed with the death-cry of the Confederate, were all suddenly 
stilled. The fearful tornado of war that had swept for many months 
the once-smiling Southland — leaving its wake only the blackened track 
of ruin piled thick with stiffened corpses ! was suddenly hushed ; as 
though the evil powers that had raised it must pause to gather fresh 
strength, before once more driving it in a fiercer and deadher blast. 

In the West, we had lost in the early year the strong position of 
Arkansas Post with its large accumulation of stores and its garrison of 
over 3,000 men; but the Queen City still sat defiant and unharmed, 
the hostile fleet and army having left its fruitless task ; and the twin 
stronghold of Port Hudson showed another row of ugly teeth, into 
range of which no Federal force seemed yet ready to venture. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 221 

On the Atlantic seaboard, too, the prospects, at this time, appeared 
more cheering. Girt as it was, with one unbroken hne of watch- 
ful- cruisers, with every port apparently sealed by blockade — southern 
ingenuity and pluck still defied them and ran in precious stores of 
arms, clothing and medicines. General Beauregard had taken active 
command of South CaroUna and Georgia; and had put the defenses 
of both coasts — especially of Charleston and Savannah — into such a 
state of fitness as quite satisfied the Government and made the peo- 
ple of those states calm and confident in his ability to protect them 
and theirs. General Gustavus W. Smith — the friend and comrade of 
General Joe Johnston — had, like him, been rewarded for his sacri- 
fices in coming South, and his able exertions afterward, by the cold- 
ness and neglect of the Government. But like him, too, he forgot 
personal wrongs; and, when ordered to North Carolina, threw his 
whole energy and skill into the works of defense for the coast and 
for that vital artery of railroad, on which the life of the South de- 
pended. 

Butler still waged his peculiar warfare upon unarmed men and 
weak women in the soft nest he had made himself, at New Orleans ; 
but Mobile reared her defiant crest and took into her bosom peaceful 
vessels laden with stores of priceless utility, only to send them out 
again — bristling with rifled cannon, fleet-winged and agile, ready to 
pounce upon the Federal shipping. 

In the Middle West, Johnston's presence had acted like oil upon 
the darkening waters of trouble and despair. There had been no 
record of fresh disaster, or fresh mismanagement ; the troops were 
recruiting, resting and increasing in numbers and efficiency ; the cav- 
alry, mobilized under Van Dorn — at last placed in his proper sphere 
— had done efficient and harassing, if desultory warfare, upon the 
enemy's small posts and communications. Pegram — by his effective 
raid through Kentucky — had shown that her people there were not 
forgotten by their brothers beyond ; and his skillful retreat — laden with 
heavy droves of cattle and in the face of a superior force — gained 
him high praise from his superior officers. 

And so the people watched and waited — hopeless no longer, but 
quite recovered from the prostration of the rapid, heavy and contin- 
uous blows of the previous autumn. Steadfast and buoyant, as they 
were ever, the masses of the South once more turned their backs upon 



222 Fou7' Years in Rebel Capitals. 

past disaster, looking eagerly through the dark cloud for the silver 
lining they felt must be beyond. 

And again, as ever, they turned their eyes toward Virginia — 
stately and calm amid the shock of battle. And they hoped not in 
vain; for over her blackened fields — furrowed by shot and shell, 
drenched with blood of best and bravest, but only more sacred for 
the precious libation — was again to ring the clarion shout of victory 
that ever swelled from the lines of Stonewall Jackson ! 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 223 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



THE FAILURE IN FINANCE. 



When the competent historian shall at last undertake a thoughtful 
work upon our great struggle, there can be little doubt that he will 
rank among the primary causes of the Confederacy's dissolution the 
grave errors of its financial system. 

These errors he will find not only in the theory and framework of 
that system — founded upon a fallacy, but also in the detailed work- 
ings of its daily management; and in persistent adherence to a line 
of policy, each day proved more fatal. 

In a previous chapter, allusion has been made to the feeling of 
conscious superiority, pervading all classes of government and peo- 
ple at the inception of the struggle, at Montgomery. This extended 
to all classes of the people ; and the universal belief in the great 
dogma of secession — " Cotton is king ! " — was doubtless the founda- 
tion of that cardboard structure of Confederate finance, which the 
first rude shock toppled to pieces, and the inexorable breath of de- 
mand shriveled into nothingness. 

At Montgomery, the promises of ease in money matters were all 
that could have been asked. The people, everywhere, had come 
forward with frank, unanimous selflessness. They had faith in the 
cause — faith in the Government — faith in themselves ; and they 
proved it by their works, giving with lavish hand from their sub- 
stance. It was felt tliat the great prosperity of the North had, in a 
great measure, come from the South ; that the looms of New England 
were fed with southern cotton ; that the New York custom house was 
mainly busied over southern exports ; that the soil of the South was, 
by the alchemy of trade, transmuted annually into three-fifths of the 
gold in the Federal treasury. 

" Egad, sir! — money is our last trouble, sir!" my old friend, the 
colonel, had cried with enthusiasm. "The country teems with riches 
— actually teems, sir ! with gold. We have onl-y to stretch out our 



2 24 Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 

hands to gather it in — more than we want, egad ! Men we need, sir ! 
— but money, never ! " 

And the colonel was right in theory. But that very overweening 
confidence in her strength proved the South's greatest weakness ; and 
where was needed the strong, nervous grasp of a practical and prac- 
ticed hand, to seize at once the threads of gold, and weave them into 
a solid cord of system — weak and shifting fingers were allowed to 
tangle and confuse them, till each in turn was snapped and rendered 
worse than worthless. Mr. C. G. Memminger, whom the President 
elevated to the Treasury Department, was untried and unknown out 
of his own State; but so great was the confidence of the people in 
their financial power — so simple did the problem of its development 
seem to them — that they were trustful and satisfied, until the stern 
grasp of necessity roughly shook them from their golden dream. 
And they awoke, like the sleeper of German legend, to find their 
hands filled with worthless yellow leaves and grains of chaff, where 
they had dreamed of treasure beyond compare. 

Immediately upon his appointment, thoughtful men — who could 
look a little beyond the rose-colored clouds of the present — had 
pressed upon Secretary Memminger the necessity for establishing 
heavy foreign credits, to draw against in case of future need. The 
currency of the southern banks was comparatively nothing, in view 
of increased expenditures. The cotton which was gold — food — 
clothing — everything to the South, with the open ports of the North, 
would be more worthless than the wampum of the Indians, so soon 
as the threatened blockade might seal up her ports and exclude the 
European purchaser. But, on the contrary, if that cotton were 
bought on the faith of the Government — and planters would willingly 
have sold their last pound for Confederate bonds; if it were shipped 
to Europe at once and sold in her market, as circumstances might 
warrant, the Confederacy would, in effect, have a Treasury Depart- 
ment abroad, with a constantly accruing gold balance. Then it 
could have paid — without agencies and middlemen beyond number, 
who were a constant moth in the Treasury — in cash and at reduced 
prices, for all foreign supplies ; those supplies could have been pur- 
chased promptly and honestly, and sent in before the blockade 
demanded a toll of one-half; but above all, the interest and principal 
of such bonds to the planters could have been paid in coin, and a 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 223 

specie circulation thus been made, instead of the fatal and endless 
paper issues that rendered Confederate credit a scoff, and weakened 
the confidence of the southern people in the ability and integrity of 
that department. 

In this sense — and this sense alone — Cotto7i 7vas king! But the 
hands that could have lifted him safely upon a throne and made every 
fiber a golden sinew of war, weakly wrested the scepter from his 
grasp, and hid him away from the sight and from the very memory 
of nations. 

It was as though the youngest of the nations aped the legendary 
traditions of the oldest. After the potent and vigorous King Cotton 
was killed by starvation. Confederate finance treated him as Jewish 
myth declares dead King Solomon was treated. In his million-acred 
temple, he stood — cold, white and useless — leaning upon his broken 
staff; while timorous leadership gaped at his still majesty — 

" Awed by the face, and the fear, and the fame 
Of the dead king standing there; 
For his beard was so white and his eyes so cold, 
They left him alone with his crown of gold! " 

Had the Government bought — as was urged upon it in the fall of 
'61 — all the cotton in the country, at the then prices, and paid 
for it in Confederate bonds at six percent., that cotton — according 
to calculations of the best cotton men of the South — would have pro- 
duced in Liverpool, during the next three years, at rapidly-increasing 
prices, over one thousand millions of dollars in goldt Granting this 
erroneous, even by one-half, it follows that the immense specie 
balance thus held, would — after paying all accruing interest — have 
left such a surplus as to have kept the currency issue of Confederate 
States' notes merely nominal, and even then have held them at a par 
valuation. 

The soldier, who freely bared his breast to the shock of a hundred 
battles for his country, his fireside and his little ones, could then 
have sent his pittance of eleven dollars a month to that fireside, with 
the consciousness it might buy those dear ones bread at least. But 
long before the darkest days fell upon the South, his whole month's: 
pay would not buy them one pound of bacon! 

Secretary Memminger would seem to have had some theory, or 
reasons of his own, for refusing to listen to the plain common sense 

15 



2 26 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

in these suggestions from practical sources. With a strictly agricult- 
ural population to supply, he insisted on the issue of Confederate 
notes in such volume that the supply far exceeded the demand. 
For, had there been a large manufacturing population actively em- 
ployed in the South, as there was in the North, the inflation of cur- 
rency might have been temporarily concealed by its rapid passage 
from hand to hand. But with no such demand — with only the daily 
necessities of the household and of the person to relieve — the plethora 
of these promises to pay naturally resulted, first in sluggishness, then 
in a complete break-down of the whole system. 

Still, from the joyous days of Montgomery, and the triumphant 
ones after Manassas — through the doubtful pauses of the next winter 
and the dark days of New Orleans — on to the very Dies tree — there 
pervaded government and people a secure belief that the finances of 
the North would break down, and the war collapse for want of 
money ! 

And so tenacious were people and rulers of this ingrained belief, 
that they cherished it, even while they saw the greenbacks of the 
Federal Government stand at 25 to 30 per cent, depreciation, while 
their own Treasury notes dropped rapidly from one hundred to one 
thousand! 

Let us pause for one moment to examine upon what basis this 
dream was founded, before going into the sad picture of want — de- 
moralization — ruin ! into which the errors of its Treasury plunged the 
southern people. 

Accepting the delusive estimate that all the property of the United 
States, in 1861, represented but one-fifth more than that of the Con- 
federate States; and that over three-fifths of the gold duties were 
from cotton and cotton fabrics, and products of the South alone, it 
was easy for the southern eye to see a future of trial, if not of ruin, 
for the North. Then, too, at the beginning of the war it was reasoned 
that the northern army of invasion, working on exterior lines, must 
necessarily be greater far in numbers and in cost, than the army of 
defense, working on interior lines. Moreover, the vast-proposed 
blockade, by increasing to a point of anything like efficiency the 
vessels, armament, and personnel of the United States navy, would 
cost many millions. Thus, in short, the southern thinker could very 
readily persuade himself that the annual expenditures of the Federal 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 227 

Government must — even with the strictest economy and best man- 
agement — run to unprecedented and undreamed-of sums. 

The demand for increased appropriations with the very first call of 
Mr. Lincoln for troops, justified this belief; the budget of '62 to the 
United States Congress went far beyond all expectation; and the 
wild waste, extravagance, and robbery that swelled each succeeding 
estimate, were but more and more proof to the southern thinker, that 
he must be right. But he had made one grave miscalculation. 

Into the woof of delusion which he continued to weave, for en- 
wrapping his own judgment, such reasoner omitted wholly to cross 
the warp of combined result. He neglected that vastly-important 
filament — proper and value-enhancing handling of his valuable pro- 
duction ; the reaUty that southern cotton, sugar and rice had become 
so great a factor in national wealth, mainly through manipulation by 
northern hands. He did not stop to calculate that — those hands re- 
moved and, in addition, the ports of the South herself hermetically 
sealed — all product, not consumable, must become as valueless as 
the leaves and dross of the German's dreamer! 

The expenses of the North have ever been paid by the South, he 
reasoned. This sum now withdrawn, it follows that not only will 
the increased expenses of the North not be paid ; but the heavy bal- 
ance will be efficient in the southern Treasury, to meet our far smaller 
expenses. 

With equal ability in management, this result might have hap- 
pened ; for there is no sort of doubt that depreciation in southern 
money was, in some regards, reason for appreciation in northern. But 
while the policy of the southern Treasury was weak, vacillating and 
destructive, that of the northern was strong, bold and cautious. 
While Mr. Memminger — instead of utilizing those products which 
had heretofore been the life-blood of northern finance — allowed the 
precious moments to pass ; and flooded the country with paper, with 
only future, instead of present and actual, basis of redemption, the 
northern Secretary struck boldly at the very root of the matter and 
made each successive disaster to northern arms another link in the 
strengthening chain of northern credit. 

The Union finances did indeed appear desperate. The stoppage 
of a sure and heavy means of revenue, at the same moment that the 
spindles of New England stood still for want of food ; the increased 



228 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

demand for fabrics and supplies, that had now to be imported; and 
the vast increase of expenditure, coincident with decrease in reve- 
nue, left but had one door open to escape. The North was flooded with 
greenback promises to pay, issued with one sole basis of redemption 
— the chance of absolute conquest of a people roused, warlike, and 
determined to yield nothing save their lives. 

To meet this issue and the interest of the vast debt incurred, tax- 
ation in the North rapidly increased, until the oppressive burden rep- 
resented, in one or another shape, 7uar 20 per cent, of the real prop- 
erty of the people ! 

Besides, the North, unlike ourselves — argued the hopeful southern 
financier — does not go into the war as a unit. New York, the great 
money center, is entirely opposed to the war ; New England is dis- 
contented at the stoppage of her factories and the loss imposed upon 
her people ; and the great West, ever more bound to the South than 
to the East, by community of interest and of pursuit, must soon see 
that her only road to salvation is down the great river that has here- 
tofore been the one lung that gave her the breath of life ! Will the 
cute Yankee of New England submit to be ruined, and starved, and 
taxed in addition ? Will the great commercial metropolis let the grass 
grow in her streets and the vessels rot at her wharves, that once laughed 
with southern cotton ? Will the granary and meat-house of the Union 
yield all her produce for baseless paper promises and, in addition 
pay heavy tax to Cvirry on a war, suicidal as she must see it ? 

Such were the delusions of the South — based, it may be, upon 
reason, and only delusions because underestimating and despising 
the great ingenuity of the enemy, and the vast cohesive power of in- 
terest ! 

If the Washington government could not make the war popular, 
it could at least make it a great money job. If it could not bring it 
at once to the hearts of its people, it could at least force it directly 
upon their pockets. 

The vast increase in army and navy gave sudden and excitingly 
novel employment to thousands of men then out of situations; the 
unprecedented demand for materials of war — arms — munitions — cloth- 
ing — supplies — turned the North and East into one vast armory and 
quartermaster's store ; while the West was a huge commissary depart- 
ment. Then the Government paid well and promptly, if it did pay 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 229 

in greenbacks. These daily changed hands and nobody stopped to 
inquire on what the promise to pay was based. 

Great contracts were let out to shrewd and skillful moneyed men; 
these again subdivided became the means of employing thousands 
of idle hands — while each sub-contractor became a missionary to the 
mob to preach the gospel of the greenback ! 

But above all was the shrewdness and finesse with which the bonds 
were manipulated. The suction once applied, the great engine, Wall 
street, was pumped dry ; and self-preservation made every bondholder 
a de facto emissary of the Treasury Department. 

Banker and baker, soldier and seamstress, were equally interested 
in the currency. It became greenback or nothing, and the United 
States used the theory of self-preservation on which to build a sub- 
stantial edifice of public credit. 

These were the hard, real reasons that dissipated at last the dream 
of the South; that kept the greenback promise of the manufacturing 
North at little below gold, while the grayback of the producing South 
i-vent down — down — from two — to ten — twenty — at last, to one thou- 
sand dollars for one. 



230 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



DOLLARS, CENTS, AND LESS. 



And now, looking back to the struggling and suffering South, one 
asks with wonder how these results could have transpired. 

Unlike the North, the South went into the struggle with her whole 
soul and her whole strength. Every man came forward with one 
accord, willing to work in the way he best might for the cause he 
held sacred; ready to give his arm, his life, and all he had beside, for 
the general good. Whole regiments were put into service, armed, 
uniformed and equipped, without costing the central government one 
dollar ; and in some instances — as of that spotless knight, true gen- 
tleman and pure patriot, Wade Hampton — raised by the energy, paid 
for by the generosity, and led to death itself by the valor of one man ! 

Corporations came into this general feeling. Railroads put their 
rolling-stock and their power in the hands of the Government ; agree- 
ing, as early as the origin of the Montgomery government, to take 
their pay at half rates and in government bonds. Banks put their 
facilities and their circulation, manufacturers their machinery and 
foundries their material, at public disposition, for the bare cost of ex- 
istence. Farmers and graziers cheerfully yielded all demanded of 
them ! And how the women wrought — how soft hands that had never 
worked before plied the ceaseless needle through the tough fabric — 
how taper fingers packed the boxes for camp, full from self-denial at 
home — shall shine dovv^n all history as the brightest page in story of 
noble selflessness. 

In the deadly hail of hostile batteries ; in the sweltering harvest- 
field of August, and at the saddened and desolate fireside of Decem- 
ber, the southern people wrought on — hoped on ! 

And the result of all this willing sacrifice was greatly to reduce 
the burdens on the treasury. For reasons before stated the southern 
army was smaller, and its transportation cost far less, than that of the 
enemy. Its equipment was far cheaper, and its subsistence for every 
reason infinitely smaller. 



Foicr Years in Rebel Capitals. 231 

Still, with an outlay per diem scarcely more than one-tenth that of 
the North — which amounted to near $4,000,000! daily; with the 
teeming fields and bursting warehouses filled with cotton — a year 
back, auriferous in every fiber — worthless now; and with a people 
thus united to act and to aid it, the Southern Treasury continued 
to flood the country with paper issues, based only on the silver 
lining of the cloud that hung darker and ever darker over the South. 

With 07ie-tenth the population in the field and the rest working for 
them, there was no real demand for this inordinate issue. One-tenth 
the volume of currency properly distributed, with a coincident issue 
of bonds, would have relieved the actual necessities of buyer and 
seller. But still the wheels Avorked on — still Treasury notes fluttered 
out, until every bank and store and till was glutted with them. 

Then the results of the inflation came with relentless and rapid 
pace. With the people still convinced of the inevitable outcome of their 
united efforts; with the thinkers of the South still evolving their 
theories of the philosopher's stone to change all this mass of paper 
into gold ; and with the press of the country blatant about the speedy 
and certain collapse of northern credit; above all, with millions 
of pounds of cotton rotting in our warehouses — Confederate money, 
little by little, bought less and less of the necessaries of life. 

At first the change was very gradual. In the summer of 1861, 
persons coming to Richmond from Europe and the North spent 
their gold as freely as the Treasury notes. Then gold rose to five, 
ten, fifteen, and finally to forty per cent, premium. There it stuck 
for a time. But the issues increased in volume, the blockade grew 
more effective, and misgivings about the Treasury management crept 
into the minds of the people. Gold went up again, ten per cent, at 
a jump, until it touched a hundred — then rapidly to a hundred and 
fifty. 

"The whole system looks devilish blue," said Styles Staple, who 
was curing an ugly wound in his thigh. " I've been writing 'the 
house ' about it, and the Gov. thinks the hour has passed for 
utilizing the cotton. If that can't be impressed by the Government^ 
the whole bottom will fall out of this thing before many months." 

" If it ever passes the two hundred," solemnly quoth the colonel in 
answer, "egad, sir! 'twill go up like a rocket! Up, sir! egad! 
clean out of sight!" 



232 Four Years in Rcbf/ Capitals. 

I candidly answered that I could not see the end of the inflation. 

" I do," Styles growled — "Repudiation ! " 

" Well, that's no end of a nobby thing! " cried Will Wyatt, who 
was always IxDred about anything more serious than the last book, or 
charging a battery. '' Cheerful that, for a fellow's little pile to go up 
like a rocket, and he not even to get the stick." 

" He can have the smoke, however," answered Styles more cheer- 
ily, as he hobbled over and gave a $5 note for a dozen cigars. 

And this began rapidly to be the tone, everywhere out of trade. 
A vague feeling of insecurity about the power of the Government 
to check the onward flood of issue prevailed in all classes. This 
produced a reckless expenditure for anything tangible and portable. 
And at last the colonel's prediction was verified ; for money touched 
the two hundred per cent., and went up — up — by the one hundred; 
until in a time incredibly short — and with such a suddenness that 
people had no time to be surprised — the Confederate treasury note 
stood still for a moment, worth ticenty to one for gold! 

This may be accounted for, in small part, by the scarcity of 
supplies and the increasing efficiency of the blockade. But it must be 
remembered that tlie value of gold remained a constant quantity and 
the gold dollar in Richmond, note-flooded and blockade-bound, bought 
more of almost any article than it ever had before. 

With a string of active vessels watching every port and cove, to 
snap up the daring ventures between the island ports and the coast ; 
with a powerful enemy thundering at every point of entrance to 
southern territory, still the fortunate man who had gold, or who could 
draw upon Europe, or the North, actually lived mucli cheaper than 
in any place beyond the lines ! Singular as this statement may ap- 
pear, it is actual tact. At this moment — before the depreciation of 
currency became such as to give it no value whatever — boiird at 
the best hotels in Richmond was $20 per day — equivalent to 
$r in gold, while it was $^^ in New York, or Washington; a suit of 
clothes could be had for $600 or $30 in gold, while in New York it 
cost from $60 to $So ; the best whisky was $.^5 per gallon — $i.::5 in 
gold, while in the North it was more than double. 

Rapidly gold rose in the market, and in the absence of stocks 
became the only vehicle for financial gambling. From time to time, 
as a brilliant success would i;race Confederate arms, the fall of 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 233 

Treasury credit would be checked. But it was only for the moment 
— and it went down steadily, rapidly, fatally. And as steadily, as 
rapidly and as fatally did the Treasury shuttles fly ; spinning out the 
notes, like a whirlwind in autumn. And tighter grew the blockade, 
and fewer the means of supply. Stocks on hand were long since 
gone; little came to replace them, and the rich were driven to great 
straits to live, while the poor almost starved. 

Away from the army lines and great centers of cities, the suffer- 
ing was dreadful ; impressments stripped the impoverished people ; 
conscription turned smiling fields into desert wastes ; fire and sword 
ravaged many districts; and the few who could raise the great bundle 
of paper necessary to buy a meal, scarce knew where to turn in the 
general desolation, to procure it even then. In the cities, it was a 
little better; but when beef, pork and butter in Richmond reached 
$35 per pound ; when common cloth was $60 per yard, shoes $200 to 
'^Soo per pair, and a barrel of flour worth $1,400, it became a difficult 
problem to fill one's stomach at any outlay. 

And all this time the soldiers and Government employes were 
being paid on a gold basis. The private received eleven (afterward 
twenty-one) dollars per month — amounting at the end of 1863 to just 
fifty-five cents in coin! At the last payments, before the final actions at 
Petersburg, the pay of a private for one month was tlw-ty-three cents! 

Nor were officers of the army and navy better paid. With their 
rank in the old service guaranteed them, they also received about the 
same pay, when gold and paper money were of equal value. Later 
Congress believed it would be a derogation from its dignity to '* prac- 
tically reduce the value of its issues," as one member said, "by 
raising officers' pay." Thus a lieutenant in the navy, probably of 
twenty years' experience, and with a family dependent upon him, 
though debarred from all other labor, received $1,500 per year — 
equal in gold to the sum of $4.25 per month; while a brigadier, or 
other higher general, received nearly $8 per month. 

These things would provoke a smile, did they not bring with them 
the memory of the anguished struggle to fight off want that the wives 
and children of the soldier martyrs made. I have gone into detail 
further than space, or the reader's patience may warrant; and still, 
" Behold, the half is not told! " 

I would not, if I could, record the bitter miseries of the last 



234 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

dreadful winter — paint the gaunt and ugly outlines of womanhood, 
squalid, famished, dying — but triumphant still. One case only will 
tell the tale for all the rest. A poor, fragile creature, still girlish and 
refined under the pinched and pallid features of starvation, tottered 
to me one day to beg work. 

"It is life or death for me and four young children," she said. 
"We have eaten nothing to-day; and all last week we lived on three 
pints of rice I " 

Will Wyatt, who was near, made a generous offer of relief. Tears 
sprang into the woman's eyes as she answered, " You mean kindness, 
major ; but I have never asked charity yet. My husband is at the 
front; and I only ask a right — to be allowed to work for my chil- 
dren!" 

Such were the sufferings, such the spirit of southern women ! 

When it was too late — when the headlong road to ruin had been 
more than half-way run — some feeble attempts were made to stay the 
downward rush. Of course, they were useless — worse than useless, 
in that they made widespread a feeling of distrust, already deep- 
seated with reflecting men. The volume of currency had reached 
such expansion that its value was merely nominal for purposes of 
subsistence, when the devices of Mr. Memminger to lessen it began 
to be pressed in earnest. 

The people had now begun to see that the whole theory of the 
Treasury was false ; that the moment for utilizing the cotton supply 
had indeed been lost ; and they murmured loud and deep against the 
Secretary and the President ; whom they believed not only retained 
him in office, but endorsed his destructive policy. Mr. Davis, the 
people said, was autocratic with his Cabinet, and would have displaced 
Mr. Memminger summarily, had he not favored that peculiar financial 
system. Mr. Davis, too, was known to have been hostile to the 
absorption and exportation by the Government of all the cotton. 
He had, moreover, recommended against any legislation by Congress 
to contract the currency and stop the issues. Now, therefore, the 
inflation and utter inadequacy of the paper money was laid at his 
door, as well as Mr. Memminger's ; and the people, feeling there was 
no safety for them, began to distrust the good faith of such reckless 
issue. A system of barter was inaugurated among the country people; 
and they traded off things only needful for others absolutely essential. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 235 

They began to feel a dread of taking the notes of the Government, 
and in many instances refused them utterly. And yet these very 
people yielded cheerfully to the constantly insolent, and not infre- 
quently illegal, demands of the impressment officers. 

In the cities, too, a point had been reached where the promise of 
the Government to pay was looked upon as a bitter joke. Bonds 
were constantly refused in business transactions, and only Treasury 
notes — as a medium of temporary exchange — were accepted. 

Then, as a necessary measure, came the imperative order for 
funding the currency. All the millions of old issues were to be 
turned into the treasury, by a certain date, and exchanged for bonds. 
If the unlucky holder could not, or would not, deposit or exchange, 
he lost thirty-three per cent, of the value of the Government pledge 
he held. The old issues went rapidly out of sight ; but the measure 
did not appreciably lessen the current medium, while it did very 
appreciably lessen the confidence in the integrity of the Department. 

It is but the first step in repudiation, thought the people. If Gov- 
ernment will on any pretext ignore one-tliird of its obligation, what 
guarantee have we for the other two ? And so, justly or unjustly, 
the country lost all faith in the money. Men became reckless and 
paid any price for any article that would keep. Tobacco — as being 
the most compact and portable — was the favorite investment; but 
cotton, real estate, merchandise — anything but the paper money, was 
grasped at with avidity. 

It has often been charged that speculators ruined the currency. 
But, to give the children of the devil their due — we can scarcely 
think but that the currency made the speculators. 

Had the plain system been adopted, by which the currency dollar 
could have ever approximated to coin, it would have been simply 
impossible for the holders of supplies to have run prices up to extor- 
tionate figures. Not that I would for one instant excuse, or ask any 
mercy for, those unclean vultures who preyed upon the dead credit 
of their Government ; who grew fat and loathsome while they battened 
on the miseries of the brave, true men who battled for them in the 
front ranks of the fight. But while the fault and the shame is theirs, 
it may not be disguised that the door was not only left open for their 
base plundering, but in many cases they were urged toward it by the 
very hands that should have slammed it in their faces. 



236 Fotir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

When we come to consider the question of the blockade, we may, 
perhaps, see this more clearly. Meantime, in glancing down the past 
by the light of experience, one can not but marvel at the rapid, yet 
almost imperceptible, epidemic that fastened incurably upon the peo- 
ple, spreading to all classes and sapping the very foundations of their 
strength. 

In the beginning, as vast crowds poured into Richmond — each 
man with a little money and anxious to use it to some advantage — 
trade put on a new and holiday dress. Old shops were spruced up ; 
old stocks, by aid of brushing and additions, were made to appear 
quite salable and rapidly ran off. The demand made the meat it fed 
upon, until stores, shops and booths sprang up in all parts of the city 
and on all the roads leading into it from the camps. Gradually — 
from causes already noted — supplies became more scarce as money 
became more plenty. The pinch began to be felt by many who had 
never known it before ; and almost every one, who had any surplus 
portables, was willing to turn them into money. In this way, those 
who had anything to sell, for the time, managed to live. But the 
unfortunates who had only what they needed absolutely, or who were 
forced to live upon a fixed stipend, that did not increase in any ratio 
to the decrease of money, suffered terribly. 

These were only too ready to take the fever of speculation ; and 
to buy any small lots of anything whatever that might sell again at a 
profit. This was the class from which the main body of amateur 
speculators was recruited. One successful venture led to another 
and gave added means for it. The clerk, or the soldier, who yester- 
day cleared his hundred on a little turn in whisky, to-morrow might 
hope to double it — then reinvest his principal and his profits. It 
was marvelous how values rose over night. One might buy any- 
thing, a lot of flour — a line of fruits — a hogshead of molasses, or a 
case of boots to-day, with almost a certainty of nearly doubling his 
outlay to-day week. 

The ordinary channels of trade became clogged and blocked by 
its constant increase. Auction houses became the means of broker- 
age ; and their number increased to such an extent that half a dozen 
red flags at last dotted every block on Main street. And incon- 
gruous, indeed, were the mixtures exposed at these sales, as well as 
in the windows of the smallest shops in Richmond. In the latter, 



Four Years i7i Rebel Capitals, 237 

bonnets rested on the sturdy legs of cavalry boots ; rolls of ribbon 
were festooned along the crossed barrel of a rifle and the dingy cot- 
ton umbrella; while cartridges, loaves of bread, packages of grocer- 
ies, gloves, letter paper, packs of cards, prayer-books and canteens, 
jostled each other in admirable confusion. 

At these auctions there was utter want of system. Hogsheads of 
prime rum would be put up after kegs of spikes ; a case of organdies 
would follow a good cavalry horse ; and then might come four sec- 
ond-hand feather-beds and a hundred boarding cutlasses. 

But everything soever found a purchaser; some because they were 
absolutely needed and the buyer dreaded waiting the next week's 
rise ; the majority to sell again in this insane game of money-making. 

But varied as were the motives for speculation, the principal 
ones were breadstuff's and absolute necessities of life ; and while the 
minor speculators — the amateurs — purchased for quick profits — the 
professional vultures bought for great ones and could afford to wait. 

The first class reached into every rank of society; the second 
were principally Yankee residents — caught in Richmond by the war, 
or remaining for the sole purpose of making it pay — and a smaller 
class of the lowest Polish Jews. Ishmaels both, owning no kinship 
and no country, their sole hope was gain — gain at the cost of repu- 
tation and credit themselves — gain even at the cost of torture and 
starvation to the whole South beside. These it was who could afford 
to buy in bulk ; then aid the rise they knew must come inexorably, 
by hoarding up great quantities of flour, bacon, beef and salt. 

It mattered not for themselves who suffered — who starved. It 
mattered not if the noble fellows at the front lived on a scant handful 
of cornmeal per day — if starving men died before the works they 
were too weak to mount — if ghastly objects in hospital and trench 
literally perished, while their storehouses burst with food — waiting for 
a rise ! 

It is too ugly a picture to dwell upon. Suffice it that the human 
hyenas of speculation did prey upon the dying South ; that they 
locked up her salt while the men in the trenches perished for it ; that 
thrice they stored the flour the people felt was theirs, in such quantities 
and for so long, that before their maw for gain was glutted, serious 
riots of the starving called for the strong hand to interfere. And to 
the credit of Government and southern soldier, be it said — even in 



23S Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

that dark hour, with craving stomach and sickening soul — "Johnny 
Reb " obeyed his orders and guarded the den of the hyena — from his 
own hungering children, perhaps ! 

No weak words of mine may paint the baseness and infamy of the 
vultures of the market. Only a Dore, with a picture like his Frozen 
Hell, or Ugolino — might give it faint ideal. 

And with the feeling how valueless was the money, came another 
epidemic — not so widespread, perhaps, as the speculation fever; but 
equally fatal to those who caught it — the rage for gambling ! 

Impulsive by nature, living in an atmosphere of constant and in- 
creasing artificial excitement, feeling that the money worth little to- 
day, perhaps, would be worth nothing to-morrow — the men of the 
South gambled heavily, recklessly and openly. There was no shame 
— little concealment about it. The money was theirs, they argued, 
and mighty hardly earned, too. They were cut off from home ties 
and home amusements; led the life of dumb beasts in camp; and, 
when they came to town — ho! for "the tiger." 

Whether these reasons be valid or not, such they were. And 
really to the camp-wearied and battle-worn officer, the saloon of the 
fiishionable Richmond "hell" was a thing of beauty. Its luxurious 
furniture, soft lights, obsequious servants and lavish store of such 
wines and liquors and cigars as could be had nowhere else in Dixie — 
these were only part of the inducement. Excitement did the rest, 
leaving out utterly the vulgar one of possible gain, so rarely did that 
obtain. But in these faro-banks collected the leading men, resident 
and alien, of the Capital. Senators, soldiers and the learned profes- 
sions sat elbow to elbow, round the generous table that offered choicest 
viands money could procure. In the handsome rooms above they 
puffed fragrant and real Havanas, while the latest developments of 
news, strategy and policy were discussed ; sometimes ably, sometimes 
flippantly, but always freshly. Here men who had been riding raids 
in the mountains of the West ; had lain shut up in the water batteries 
of the Mississippi ; or had faced the advance of the many " On-to- 
Richmonds " — met after long separation. Here the wondering young 
cadet would look first upon some noted raider, or some gallant 
brigadier — cool and invincible amid the rattle of Minie-balls, as reck- 
less but conquerable amid the rattle of ivory chips. 

So the faro-banks flourished and the gamblers waxed fat like 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 239 

Jeshurun, the ass, and kicked never so boldly at the conscript man. 
Nor were they all of ignoble memory. There is more than one 
"sport" in the South to-day, who made warm and real friends of 
high position from his acts of real generosity then. 

Whatever may be the vices of gamblers as a class, many a soldier- 
boy will bear witness to the exception that proves the rule. One of 
the "hells" at least was a iiomc for the refugee; and whether the 
Maryland soldier came dirty, and hungry and ragged from camp, with 
never a "stamp" in his pocket; whether he came wearied and worn, 
but "full of greenbacks," from a trip across the lines — the post of 
honor at the table, the most cordial welcome and most generous glass 
of wine were ever his. 

However the holy may be horrified — however the princely specu- 
lator may turn up his keen-scented nose, I here record that, during 
the four years of dark and bloody war — of pinching want and bitter 
trial, there was no more generous, free-hearted and delicate aid given 
to the suffering soldier-boy, than came from the hand of the Balti- 
more faro-banker. 

So in Richmond high and low gambled — some lightly for excite- 
ment's sake — some 'dashingly and brilliantly — a few sullenly and dog- 
gedly going in to gain. Few got badly hurt, getting more in equiva- 
lent of wines, cigars and jolly dinners than they gave. They looked 
upon the "hell" as a club — and as such used it freely, spending what 
they had and whistling over their losses. When they had money to 
spare they played ; when they had no money to spare— or otherwise 
— they smoked their cigars, drank their toddies and met their friends 
in chaff and gossip, with no more idea that there was a moral or social 
wrong than if they had been at the " Manhattan " or the "Pick- 
wick" of to-day. 

I do not pretend to defend the habit ; but such it was, and such 
all the men who remember the Capital will recognize it. 

Of that other class, who " went in for blood " — some got badly 
hurt in reputation and in pocket. But the dead cause has buried its 
dead ; and their errors — the result of an overstrained state of society 
and indubitably of a false money-system — hurt no one but them- 
selves. 

And so, with the enemy thundering at the gates; with the echoed 
whooj oi\\\Q. great shells almost sounding in the streets ; and with the 



240 Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 

ill-provided army staggering under the burthen of defense — almost too 
heavy for it to bear — the finances of the Confederacy went from bad 
to worse — to nothing ! 

The cotton that the alchemy of genius, or even of business tact — 
might have transmuted into gold, rotted useless ; or worse, as a bait 
for the raider. The notes, that might have been a worthy pledge of 
governmental faith, bore no meaning now upon their face ; and the 
soldier in the trench and the family at the desolate fireside — who 
might have been comfortably fed and clad — were gnawed with very 
hunger ! And when the people murmured too loudly, a change was 
made in men, if not in policy. 

Even if Mr. Trenholm had the ability, he had no opportunity to 
prove it. The evil seed had been sown and the bitter fruit had 
grown apace. Confederate credit was dead ! 

Even its own people had no more faith in the issues of their gov- 
ernment ; and they hesitated not — even while they groped on, ever 
on to the darkness coming faster and faster down upon them — to de- 
clare that the cause of their trouble was Mr. Memminger; with the 
President behind him. 

But, though the people saw the mismanagement and felt its cause 
— though they suffered from it as never nation suffered before — 
though they spoke always bitterly and often hotly of it ; still, in their 
greatest straits and in their darkest hours, no southern man ever 
deemed it but mismanagement. 

The wildest and most reckless slanderer could never hint that one 
shred of all the flood of paper was ever diverted from its proper chan- 
nel by the Secretary ; or that he had not worked brain and body to 
the utmost, in the unequal struggle to subdue the monster he had 
created. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 241 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



ACROSS THE POTOMAC AND BACK. 



Of such vast import to the southern cause was Lee's first aggres- 
sive campaign in Maryland ; so vital was its need believed to be, by 
the people of the South ; so varied and warm was their discussion of it 
that it may seem proper to give that advance more detailed consider- 
ation. 

Imperfect and inadequate as such a sketch must be, to the soldier, 
it may still convey in some sort, the ideas of the southern people 
upon a momentous question. 

Coincident with the evacuation of the Peninsula by the Federals 
was General Lee's movement, to throw beyond the Rapidan a force 
sufficient to prevent Pope's passage of that river. After Cedar 
Mountain, Jackson had disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him 
up. It was believed in the North that the advance of Pope's masses 
had cut him off from the main army and locked him up in the Shen- 
andoah Valley; wliile the South — equally ignorant of his designs and 
confident of their success — rested on the rumor that he had said : 

" Send me more men and no orders ! " 

Suddenly a beacon flashed into the sky, telling in the flames 
from the depots at Manassas and Bristow Stations that the famous 
passage of Thoroughfare Gap had been made — millions of property, 
stores and rolling-stock given to feed the flames. Jackson was in 
Pope's rear ! 

This Confederate corps now fronted toward the main army of 
Lee, and the bragging Federal found himself between the upper and 
nether millstones. Still he had little doubt that he could turn upon 
the small force of Jackson and crush it before Lee could advance to 
his rescue. Following this plan, and depending also upon the heavy 
masses Burnside was bringing down to him from Fredericksburg, Pope 
attacked Jackson in detail at Bristow and at Manassas, with no other 
effect than to be repulsed heavily in both instances. 
16 



242 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

The attack, however, warned Jackson of the enemy's purpose and 
of his own critical position; and, on the night of August 2Sth, he 
made a masterly flank movement that put him in possession of the 
old battle-field of Manassas plains ; at the same time opening his 
communications with Lee's advance. 

In all this, General Stuart gave most efficient aid both in beating 
back heavy attacks of the enemy's cavalry, and in keeping Jackson ad- 
vised of the course of Pope's retreat — or advance, as it might be 
called — from Warrenton to IManassas. 

By the 29th of August, Longstreet's corps had effected the pas- 
sage of Thoroughfare Gap and united with Jackson ; and on that day 
these corps engaged with Pope's advance in a terrific fight, lasting 
from midday till dark — the prelude to the great drama that was next 
day to deluge the field of Manassas a second time with the blood of 
friend and foe. 

Before daylight next morning, the cannon again woke the wearied 
and battle-worn ranks, sleeping on their arms on the field they had 
won ; and sent a fresh impulse to the hearts of their brothers, toiling 
steadily on to join them in the great fight to come. Heavy firing 
and sharp skirmishing for position filled the forenoon ; but then the 
masses of hostile infantry joined in the shock of battle, more terrible 
than the one of the year before. The men were more disciplined 
and hardened on both sides; and the Federal leaders, feeling that 
their only hope lay in victory now, hurled brigade after brigade 
against the now vindictive and battle-thirsty Confederates. 

Line after line emerges from enveloping clouds of smoke, charg- 
ing the fronts that Longstreet and Jackson steadily oppose to them. 
Line after line melts before that inevitable hail, rolling back scattered 
and impotent as the spume the angry ocean throws against a granite 
headland ! 

Broken again and again, the Federals, with desperate gallantry, 

hurl against the unflinching crescent that pours its ceaseless rain of 

fire through them ; while the great guns behind its center thunder 

and roll 

" In the very glee of war," 

sending death- winged bolts tearing and crushing through them. 

Through the carnival of death Hood has sent his Texans and 
Georgians at a run — their wild yells rending the dull roar of the fight; 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 243 

their bayonets flashing in a jagged Hne of light like hungry teeth ! 
Jackson has swung gradually round the enemy's right ; and Stephen 
Lee's artillery has advanced from the center — ever tearing and crash- 
ing through the Federal ranks, scattering terror and death in its un- 
swerving path ! 

The slaughter has been terrific. Federal and Southron have fought 
well and long. Piles of mangled and gory dead lie so mingled that 
gray and blue are undistinguished. But the wild impetuosity of the 
" ragged rebels " — nerved by the memories of this field's old glories 
— toned up by the Seven Days, and delirious with the glow of present 
victory — sweeps the Federal back and doubles his line. It breaks — 
fresh regiments pour in with deadly shot and fearful yell ; the Fede- 
ral line melts into confusion — rout ! and the Second Manassas is won. 

The victory was as complete as that of the year before ; an abso- 
lute rout was only saved the Federals by falling back to the reserve 
under Franklin, when the retreat became more orderly, as there was 
no pursuit. 

The solid fruits of the victory were the annihilation of all the plans 
of the gong-sounder, and the complete destruction of the new "On- 
to-Richmond;" the capture of over 7,000 prisoners — paroled on 
the field — and his admitted total loss of 28,000 men. 

New glories, too, shone around the names of Lee, Jackson, Long- 
street, Hood, Kemper and Jenkins ; and the efficient aid and splen- 
did fighting of the cavalry of Stuart, Hampton and Bev Robinson, 
here proved that arm to have reached its point of highest efficiency. 

The heart of the South, still throbbing with triumph after the 
Seven Days and their bright corollary of Cedar Mountain, went up 
in one wild throb of joyous thanksgiving. So satisfied were the 
people of the sagacity of their leaders and the invincible valor of 
their troops ; so carried away were they by the splendid reflection 
from the glory over Manassas plain — that this time they never even 
stopped to question why there had been no pursuit ; why the broken 
enemy had not been completely crushed. All they felt was that 
Virginia was free from the invader. For General Loring, in the 
Kanawha, had driven the enemy before him and entirely cleared that 
portion of the state; while on this line he was hastening rapidly 
back to V/ashington to meet the expected advance of Lee toward the 
Capital. 



244 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Without resting his army, the latter divided it into three corps, 
under command of Jackson, Longstreet and A. P. Hill; and moved 
rapidly toward the accomplishment of that cherished hope of the 
southern people — an offensive campaign on the enemy's soil. 

Jackson passed with his accustomed swiftness to the occupation of 
the heights commanding Harper's Ferry and to the investment of that 
position \ while the other corps moved to the river at different points, 
to cut off the re-enforcements the alarmed Federals might send to its 
rescue. Great was the alarm and intense the excitement at Washing- 
ton. The sudden turn of the tables — the cold dash to hopes that the 
bragging of their new hero had raised to fever heat, and the trans- 
formation of the crushed rebel into an avenging invader, created 
equal surprise as panic. Pope summarily dropped from the pin- 
nacle of public favor into disgrace; and McClellan was the only 
mainstay the Federal Government could fall back on, to check the 
victorious Lee. 

Meanwhile, equal excitement reigned in the Rebel Capital, but it 
was joyous and triumphant. The people had long panted to see the 
theater of blood and strife transferred to the prosperous and peaceful 
fields of their enemy. They had a secure feeling that when these 
were torn with shell and drenched with carnage; when barns were 
rifled and crops trampled by hostile feet, the northern people would 
begin to appreciate the realities of a war they had so far only seen 
by the roseate light of a partial press. Secure and confident in the 
army that was to work their oracle, the hope of the South already 
drew triumphant pictures of defeated armies, harassed states, and 
a peace dictated from the Federal Capital. 

On the 14th of September, D. H. Hill, of Longstreet's corps — 
stationed at Boonesboro to protect Jackson's flank — was attacked by 
a heavy force. Heavily outnumbered. Hill fought a dogged and ob- 
stinate battle — giving and taking terrific blows, only ceasing when 
night stopped the fight. It was hard to tell which side had the best 
of the actual fighting ; but the great object was gained and the next day 
Harper's Ferry, with its heavy garrison and immense supply of arms, 
stores and munitions, was surrendered to Jackson. 

Great was the joy in Richmond when the news of the brilliant 
fight at Boonesboro — the first passage of arms on Maryland soil — 
and of the capture of the great arsenal of the North reached her anx- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 245 

ious people. It was, they felt, but the presage of the great and sub- 
stantial triumphs that Lee and his veterans must win. Higher rose 
their confidence and more secure became their calculations; and the 
vivid contrast between the ragged, shoeless and incongruous army of 
the South with the sleek, spruce garrison surrendered to them, only 
heightened the zest of the victory and the anticipation of those to 
follow. 

But a sudden check was to come to this mid-career of anticipation, 
and a pall of doubt and dismay was to drape the fair form of Hope, 
even in her infancy. 

Two days after the fall of Harper's Ferry — on the 17th of Septem- 
ber — Lee had massed some 35,000 men on the banks of the Antie- 
tam, near Sharpsburg — a village ten miles north-east of Harper's 
Perry. McClellan, pressing him hard with an army four times his 
own numbers — composed in part of raw levies and hastily-massed 
militia, and in part of the veterans of the armies of the Potomac — 
seemed determined on battle. Trusting in the valor and reliability 
of his troops, and feeling the weakness of being pressed by an enemy 
he might chastise, the southern chief calmly awaited the attack — send- 
ing couriers to hasten the advance of A, P. Hill, Walker and McLaws, 
whose divisions had not yet come up. 

Ushered in by a heavy attack the evening before — which was 
heavily repulsed— the morning of the 17th saw one of the bloodiest 
and most desperate fights in all the horrid records of that war. Hurl- 
ing his immense masses against the rapidly dwindling Confederate 
line, only to see them reel back shattered and broken — McClellan 
strove to crush his adversary by sheer strength. No sooner would 
one attacking column waver, break, retreat — leaving a writhing and 
ghastly wake behind it — than a fresh host would hurl against the ada- 
mantine line that sunk and shriveled under the resisdess fire, but 
never wavered. In all the fearful carnage of the war — whether re- 
sulting in gloom, like that of Corinth, or purchasing brilliant victory 
with precious blood — men never fought better than did that battle- 
torn, service-worn handful that had just saved Richmond — broken 
the glittering, brazen vessel of destruction ; and now sent its defiant 
yell through hostile mountains. 

All that valor and endurance could do had been done ; and at 
mid-afternoon the battle seemed well-nigh lost. Just then the missing 



246 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

divisions — some 12,000 men — reached the field. Weaned, unfed and 
footsore, they were; but the scent of battle rested and refreshed 
them as they went into the thickest of the fight. But even they 
could not save the day. Outnumbered and shattered, but uncon- 
quered still, the Confederates could not advance from the field they 
had held at such bitter cost. And when night stopped the aimless 
carnage, each army, too crippled to renew the fight, withdrew to- 
ward its base. McClellan could not pursue ; and the Confederates 
fell back doggedly, sullenly, and recrossed into Virginia. 

As usual in the North, a wild howl went up against McClellan. 
In response to this bnitum fuhnen, he was promptly removed by Hal- 
leck, for not conquering an army that had proved itself invincible! 

Bitter indeed was the hour that brought to Richmond the story of 
Sharpsburg. Flushed with hope, undoubting of triumph, her citizens 
only listened for the wild cheer that would echo back from conquered 
Washington. But the sound that reached their ears was the menac- 
ing roar from retreating ranks that left near one-third their number 
stark and ghastly on that grim field, where the Death Angel has so 
darkly flapped his wings. 

Thus ended the first Maryland campaign. 

It had given the people their wish ; it had carried the gray jackets 
over the border and stricken the enemy sorely on his own soil. But 
it had left that soil drenched with the blood of some of the bravest 
and best ; the noble Branch and chivalric Starke had both fallen where 
their men lay thickest — torn and ghastly on that terrible field. 

The details of that field which the Richmond people gathered 
from the northern papers, deepened their gloom. And through it 
rose a hoarse whisper, swelling at last into angry query, why had the 
campaign miscarried? If the army was inadequate in numbers, why 
had General Lee carried it over that river he had never crossed be- 
fore, when his own army was better and the enemy less prepared ? 
And if, as stated, the men were ill-provided in munitions and trans- 
portation — as they were known to be with clothes and rations — why 
had Government forced its only bulwark well-nigh to annihilation ? 

It mattered little, the people said, that the results had been far 
more disastrous to the North than to the South — both in prestige and 
loss. The North could far better afford it. What was the killing of 
a few thousand raw troops, or the destruction of a few thousand stand 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 247 

of arms, compared to the precious cost of holding the field at Sharps- 
burg? 

And gradually these complaints, as in all such cases, answered 
themselves ; and then the vials of southern wrath began to empty- 
over the unfortunate Marylanders, who had not risen to aid their 
brothers in their sore need. How unjust were these charges will 
soon be shown. 

And so the people murmured to relieve their overfull hearts, until 
the calm and steady course of the general they had never doubted, 
quieted them once more. 

The outcry in the North resulted in the choice of General A. E. 
Burnside to command the new invasion ; and he was of course hailed 
as the augur, who was surely this time to read the oracle. Watchful, 
calm, and steadfast, the Confederate waited, through the months of 
preparation, to meet the new advance — so disposing part of his force 
about Winchester as to prevent the favorite Valley-road On-to-Rich- 
mond. With a renewed, and splendidly appointed, army, Burnside 
moved in November toward Fredericksburg ; thinking that this time he 
had really gotten between Lee and Richmond. 

AVhat was his disgust to find, when he reached the Rappahannock, 
that the Confederate army was not all at Winchester, but was before 
him to dispute his crossing. After some unavailing manceuvers for 
position, the Federals sat down on the heights of Stafford, opposite 
Fredericksburg ; made works at their leisure ; and spread a perfect 
city of tents and booths over a line of some five miles. Outnumbered 
as he was. General Lee could do nothing but watch and wait for the 
crossing that must come, sooner or later; and meantime he chose his 
line of battle. 

Just back of Fredericksburg, stretching some two miles south- 
ward, is a semi-circular plain bordered by a range of hills. These 
stretch from Hamilton's crossing beyond Mayre's Hill on the left ; 
and are covered with dense oak growth and a straggling fringe of 
pines. On these hills, Lee massed his artillery, to sweep the \^ihole 
plain where the enemy must form, after his crossing ; and arranged 
his line of battle with A. P. Hill holding the right and Longstreet the 
left. On the night of December loth, Stafford Heights opened a 
furious bombardment of the town, tearing great gaps through the 
thickest populated quarters. 

Into the bitter winter night tender women and young children were 



248 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

driven, shivering with fright and cold, half clad ; seeking safety from 
the screaming shells that chased them everywhere. Under this bom- 
bardment, the pioneers commenced their pontoons at three points. 
The storm of grape and canister was too great to contest the landing, 
which was effected next day. 

As the heavy fog that had obscured the sun cleared away, the reg- 
ular lines of the Federals advanced to the attack, raked and torn by 
batteries. Broken, they were formed again, only to be mowed down 
afresh ; while the scream of a thousand shells from Stafford filled the 
air with a continuous luhoo, amid which the rattle of southern 
musketry sang ever fiercer and swifter. Then dark masses of blue 
came out of the town and formed for the charge, under a terrific fire 
from the Washington Artillery on Mayre's Hill. Steadily and fear- 
lessly did Meagher's First Brigade move to the attack. Crowded 
into the narrow road, swept by the accurate fire of the Louisianians 
and McLaws' veterans — the head of the column went down, only to 
be filled by the gallant fellows behind. Into the jaws of death they 
came, up to the very works — then, with half their number dead and 
dying about their feet, they broke, the left gave way — and the bloody 
field was won at all points. The victory was terrible and complete. 

But it had cost dear, and the rejoicing in Richmond was tempered 
with sorrow for the loss of such as Maxcy Gregg, Cobb, and many 
others, lying cold upon the field of victory. 

And with the first feeling of triumph the news brought, came the 
thought that this time surely the enemy would be pushed — this time 
he was indeed a prey ! Broken and demoralized, with a deep river 
in his rear that he must cross in potitoons, the people felt that he could 
surely be destroyed before reaching his Stafford stronghold. But 
once again, as ever, the shattered and broken legions of Burnside 
were allowed two days to recover from their demoralization ; to pass 
at leisure, over the trap behind them. 

Great was the amaze, bitter the disappointment of the people; and 
the inquiry how and why this had been done, became universal. But 
the southern people above every other feeling had now come to 
cherish a perfect and unquestioning faith in General Lee ; and even 
while they wondered at a policy that invariably left a beaten enemy 
to recover, and only become stronger — still they questioned with a 
firm reliance that there 7nust be some reason, invisible to them but 
good and potent still. 



Fozir Years in Rebel Capitals, 249 

There were no active operations immediately succeeding Fredericks- 
burg. Picket fighting ; cavalry skirmishes, severe but fruitless ; and 
temporary raids of the enemy to devastate tke country around the 
rear of their army, and to penetrate into that beyond their lines, 
occupying the winter and early spring. But there was full leisure 
for the people to look upon the ugliest features of the war. Fred- 
ericksburg was a ruin, riddled with shot and shell, tenanted only by 
the poorest classes. Her once cheerful and elegant population were 
ruined and starving refugees in Richmond ; the smiling tracts stretch- 
ing back to the Potomac were one broad, houseless waste — browned 
by fire, and cut with the winding wagon-roads of the enemy. Con- 
stant incursions of his cavalry — for "raiding" had now become 
a feature of the war — harassed the people, everywhere removed from 
the immediate army lines. These slaughtered and drove off their 
cattle, stole and consumed their supplies, burned their barns, and de- 
stroyed their farming titensils ! — a refinement of barbarity to non-com- 
batants, never before practiced by a civilized race. 

Then, too, the news from the West, heretofore sketched, reacted 
on Richmond; and the gloom in the Capital grew deep and universal. 
Burnside had, meantime, been dismissed in disgrace for his shame- 
ful failure. The inevitable howl had again gone up in the North ; 
then the inevitable result had come. Joseph Hooker was now the 
coming man — the war-gong was sounded more loudly than ever; 
the army was re-enforced to greater size than ever; and so equipped 
that its general proclaimed it the "finest army on the planet." 
Agog with preparation, and stufied full with promises of certain suc- 
cess this time, the North forgot the many slips between its lips and 
the coveted cup of triumph, and waited in secure impatience for the 
moment when the roads would permit Hooker to advance. 

And the South waited, too — not hopefully, nor with the buoyant 
anticipation of the past, but still with a confidence in its cause and its 
defenders nowise diminished; with even more fixed determination 
never to yield, while there were muskets left and hands to grasp them. 

At last the movement came. Late in April, Hooker divided his 
immense army into two columns, one menacing right crossing below 
Fredericksburg, to hold the troops at that point ; the other crossing 
above, to flank and pass to their rear, combining with the other 
wing and cutting communication with Richmond. Taking command 



250 Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 

in person of his right wing — while the left was confided to General 
Slocum — Hooker rapidly crossed the river, concentrating not less 
than 60,000 men on the Chancellorsville road, eleven miles above 
Fredericksburg. Grasping the situation at once, Lee ordered the 
small force there back to Mine Run, until re-enforced ; and then, on 
the 2d of May, Stonewall Jackson completed that wonderful and 
painful circuit of the enemy — so brilliant in conception, so success- 
ful in result. Late in the afternoon he reached their extreme right 
and rear, secure and unsuspecting. Never stopping to rest, the 
Eldest Son of War hurled himself like a thunderbolt on the confident 
and intrenched enemy — scattering the eleventh corps (Sigel's) like 
chaff, and hurling them, broken and demoralized, upon their sup- 
ports. The very key of the enemy's campaign was driven out; and 
the " one hour more of daylight ! " the hero-general prayed for — or 
the merciful sparing of his priceless life by the God of Battles — 
would have shown complete defeat, even annihilation, of Hooker's 
right. 

But it was not so written in the Book of Life ! A wise dis- 
pensation, whose object we may see, removed the best and great- 
est soldier of the war — sorely stricken by the hands of his own 
devoted men, in the darkness ; the routed enemy was given, by this 
unequaled misfortune, and by fast falling night, opportunity for par- 
tial reorganization. 

Hooker's right was turned and doubled upon his center ; but he 
was still strong in numbers, and had the advantage of position and 
heavy works, abatis and rifle-pits. 

Next morning General Lee assaulted in force, all along the line ; 
and after heavy and bloody fighting, drove him from his position at 
all points. Sedgwick, however, had crossed the river at Fredericks- 
burg, driving the Confederates from the town and carrying Mayre's 
Hill by assault. This acted as a check to Lee, who was forced to 
detach McLaws' division to drive Sedgwick back from his own rear. 
This he successfully accomplished, and — Anderson reaching McLaws 
just in time — on the 4th of May, the last of the series of the battles 
of the Rappahannock resulted in complete defeat of Sedgwick. 

Still, Hooker was permitted to withdraw his army across the river; 
but the campaign of the week had been successful in utterly break- 
ing his plans and clearly defeating him in every engagement. 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 251 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

OVER AGAIN, TO GETTYSBURG. 

The campaign of the Rappahannock had shown brilliant flashes of 
strategy and valor. It had proved that a badly-provided army 
of less than 50,000 Confederates — barefooted, blanketless and half- 
fed, but properly led — could, even v»hen surrounded and out- 
flanked, defeat and set at naught 120,000 of the best-appointed 
troops ever sent against them. It revived, in some degree, the droop- 
ing spirits of the people \ but a sorrow that rose to agony wrung the 
heart of the South, when what was earth of her peerless, pure and 
idolized Jackson was laid in the Capitol, wrapped in the flag he had 
made immortal. 

Shattered and emaciated veterans, noble-browed matrons and pale, 
delicate maidens gathered around that sacred bier, in the awed hush 
of a common sorrow, too deep for words. Tears coursed over cheeks 
that had been bronzed in the fire of battle ; sobs rose from hearts 
that had lost their dearest and nearest without a murmur, save — Thy 
luill be done! And little children were lifted up to look upon what 
was left of him who would ever be the greatest one of earth to them. 
And through the cofi(in-lid, that calm, still face seemed hourly to grow 
more holy and more radiant ; the light of battle faded out from its 
softening lines and the seal of the God of Peace rested in plain token 
upon the glorified brow. 

Truly did every one who looked upon it feel : 

" O, gracious God ! not gainless is the loss ! 

A glorious sunbeam gilds thy sternest frown — 
For, while his country staggers 'neath the Cross, 
He rises with the Crown ! " 

And when the funeral procession passed the streets of the Capital, 
the whole people stood bareheaded and mute. Following the wail- 
ing notes of the dirge with unsteady feet, moved the escort of ragged 
and war-worn soldiers — their tattered banners furled — and every 
torn dress and dented gun-carriage speaking eloquently of the right 



252 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

they had earned to sorrow for him. It was no mocking pageant. 
No hohday soldiery, spruce and gay, followed that precious bier — no 
chattering crowds pointed out the beauties of the sight. Solemn and 
mourning the escort passed ; sad and almost voiceless the people 
turned away and, going to their homes, sat with their sorrow. 

After the Rappahannock fights came a lull of several weeks ; and 
it was early in June when General Lee advanced to force the enemy 
out of the state. His army had been reorganized and strengthened 
as much as possible ; General R. S. Ewell was chosen successor to 
Jackson ; and to him, Longstreet and A. P. Hill — raised now to a 
full lieutenant-general — was^iven command oi the three corps. 

Diverging from the main line, after some little coquetting for po- 
sition, Ewell charged Jackson's "foot cavalry " upon Winchester, 
capturing the town with its heavy depots of stores and munitions ; 
while Hill kept Hooker amused, and Longstreet slowly forged his way 
toward the river. 

Great was the joy of the poor town when it once more welcomed 
the gray-jackets. From the beginning it had been battle-ground and 
billet of both armies a dozen times. Tossed from Federal to Con- 
federate possession — a very shuttlecock of war — it had been har- 
assed, robbed and pillaged by the one ; drained of the very dregs 
by free gifts to the other. But the people of Winchester never fal- 
tered in their faith; and to-day her noble women go down the roll 
of heroism and steadfast truth, hand in hand with the noblest ones of 
our history. 

And the joy in Winchester was somewhat reflected at the harassed 
and eager-watching Capital. Undiminished by the sorrows of the 
last fall, undimmed by its reverses, still burned the southern desire 
to plant its victorious flag on hostile soil. It was neither a thirst for 
vengeance nor an empty boast ; rather a yearning for relief — a crav- 
ing for the rest from blood and battle-shocks that such a campaign 
would give. 

It was with deep satisfaction, then, that Richmond heard that 
Ewell had crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, pushed on through 
Hagerstown and, leaving Early at York, had passed to Carlisle ; that 
Longstreet had followed him at Williamsport ; and that A. P. Hill 
had crossed at Shepherdstown and pushed for Chambersburg, reaching 
there on the 27th of June. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 255 

Hooker, falling rapidly back upon Washington — at which point he 
believed the movement aimed — had been sacrificed, and with more 
justice than usual, to popular clamor. General Geo. G. Meade re- 
placed him in command, and strained every nerve to collect numbers 
of men, irrespective of quality — seeming to desire to crush the inva- 
sion by weight alone. 

Wild was the alarm in the North when the rebel advance had 
penetrated the heart of Pennsylvania; when York was held by Early 
and laid under contribution and Harrisburg was threatened by Ewell. 
The whole North rose in its might. Governors Seymour, of New 
York, Andrew, of Massachusetts, and Curtin, of Pennsylvania, put 
their whole militia at the service of the President; the energy at 
Washington, momentarily paralyzed, soon recovered ; and by the last 
day of the month, Meade had collected an army of near 200,000 men. 
Many of these were, of course, new levies and raw militia ; but near 
one-half were the veterans of the armies of McClellan, Burnside and 
Hooker ; men who had fought gallantly on southern soil and might 
be expected to do so on their own. 

It seems that Lee's intention was to flank Meade ; and leaving him 
in Maryland, to pass into Pennsylvania, occupy Harrisburg, destroy 
communications between Washington and the North and reduce Phila- 
delphia. 

Such, at least, was the universal belief of the southern people ; 
and so rapidly did their mercurial temperament rise under it, and so 
great was their reliance in the army that was to accomplish the brill- 
iant campaign, that they looked upon it already as a fixed fact. Now, 
at last, they felt, we will teach the Yankees what invasion really means. 
With their Capital leaguered, their President and Cabinet fugitives by 
water, and their great thoroughfare and second city in our hands, we 
will dictate our own terrns, and end the war. 

Such might have been the case, had Gettysburg been won, or 
had that battle never been fought. 

If Lee's intention was to flank Meade and avoid a fight at the out- 
set of the campaign, it was thwarted by the rapid concentration of 
troops in his front, near Gettysburg. To prevent being struck in 
detail and secure his communications, Lee was forced to recall Ewell 
and to concentrate his army. Hill and Longstreet were ordered up 
from Chambersburg ; and by July ist the opposing armies faced 



254 Fo7ir Year's in Rebel Capitals. 

each other ; each feeling its way cautiously and knowing that the 
result of this grapple of the giants must in a great measure decide the 
war. Meade's defeat would lose Washington, leave the heart of the 
North open, and demoralize the only army in that section. Lee's 
defeat, on the other hand, would jeopardy his very existence and 
probably leave Richmond an easy prey to fresh advance. 

But in Richmond none of this was felt ; for all that ^vas known of 
the army was its victorious entry into Pennsylvania ; and absurdly 
exaggerated stories of the dire panic and demoralization of the enemy 
received perfect credence. 

Then the shock came. 

On the ist of July, Hill's advance encountered the enemy under 
Reynolds ; and — after a fierce struggle, in which their general was 
killed — drove them back into and through the town. Here they were 
reformed on a semi-circular crest of hills ; massing their artillery and 
holding their position until dark. Their loss was heavier far than 
Hill's, and the men not in as good fighting trim; but it was very late, 
and General Lee feared pressing their reserve. Had he known that 
it was only the advance of Meade, broken and demoralized, that held 
the crest, he could undoubtedly have carried and occupied it. The 
fearful battles of the next two days, with their terrific loss of life, 
doubtless hung on this lost opportunity. 

By next morning the enemy had massed the remainder of his 
army behind these hills, now frowning with two hundred guns and 
blue with one dense line of soldiery. Under a fearful cannonade, 
through a hail of bullets that nothing living might stand, Stewart 
works his way slowly and steadily forward on the enemy's left; 
driving him from line after line of works and holding every inch 
gained, by dogged valor and perseverance. Hays and Hoke (of 
Early's) advance into the ploughing fire of the rifled guns — march 
steadily on and charge over their own dead and dying, straight for 
Cemetery Heights. This is the key of the enemy's position. That 
once gained the day is won ; and on the brave fellows go, great gaps 
tearing through their ranks — answering every fresh shock with a 
savage yell. Line after line of the enemy gives way before that 
terrible charge. The breastwork is occupied — they are driven out ! 
Melting under the horrid fire, unfaltering still — the gray-jackets reach 
the very hill ! 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 255 

Nothing mortal can stand the enfilading fire. They give way — 
again they charge — they are at the very works ! But the fire is too 
heavy for their thinned ranks to stand; and night falls over the field, 
illumined by the red flash of cannon — drenched with blood and 
horrid with carnage of friend and foe. But there is no advantage 
gained, save a slight advance of Stewart's position on their left. 

With the morning of the third day came the conviction that the 
vital struggle must be made for Cemetery Heights. Lee must win 
them — and then for victory ! 

All the artillery was massed upon this point. Then awoke the 
infernal echoes of such an artillery duel as the war was never to see 
again. The air was black with flying shot and shell, and their wild 
whool made one continuous song through the sultry noon. Forth 
from the canopy of smoke and their screen of trees, comes the chosen 
storming party — Pickett's division of Virginians; supported on the 
right by Wilcox and on the left by Heth's division under Pettigrew, its 
own general having been wounded in the head the day before. 

Unmindful of the fire-sheeted storm into which they march — down 
into the Valley of the Shadow' of Death stride that devoted band. 
Now, they emerge into the Emmetsburg road, straight on for the 
coveted heights. On ! never blenching, never faltering — with great 
gaps crashing through them — filling the places of the dead with the 
living next to die — On ! into the jaws of death goes the forlorn hope ! 
They are at the rise — they reach the crest ; and then their batteries are 
suddenly silent! 

Behind them is the ghastly road, furrowed and ploughed by cease- 
less shot, slippery with blood and dotted thick with their writhing, 
bleeding brothers. Behind them is death — defeat! Before them a 
hundred belching cannon — a dense, dark mass of blue, relieved only 
by the volleying flash that shakes and rolls along their shattered line ! 
Still up they go! on — ever on! That small Virginia division, shat- 
tered, bleeding — and alone reaches the works — fights for one moment 
and then — has won them ! 

But there are no supports — Pettigrew has not come up; and the 
decimated Virginians are literally overwhelmed t?y the fresh masses 
poured upon them. Broken, torn, exhausted, they fall back — scat- 
tered into terrible death-dealing knots, that fight their way sullenly 
and terribly home to their own lines ! 



256 Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

That charge — unequaled in history — has fearfully crippled the 
enemy. He can not pursue. But it has failed, and the battle of 
Gettysburg is over ! 

That night General Lee fell back toward Hagerstown, turning in 
his retreat to show front to the enemy that dared not attack. Nine 
days he stayed on the Maryland shore, waiting the advance that 
never came; then he recrossed the river, on the night of the 13th, 
and again fell back to the Rappahannock lines. 

The second Maryland campaign had failed ! 

Into the midst of the general elation in Richmond crashed the 
wild rumors from the fight. We had driven the enemy through the 
town; we held the height; we had captured Meade and 40,000 
prisoners. Washington was at our mercy; and Lee would dictate 
terms of peace from Philadelphia! 

These were the first wild rumors; eagerly sought and readily 
credited by the people. They were determined to believe and would 
see no change of plan in General Lee's forced battle at Gettysburg, 
instead of on the plains at Harrisburg. 

Then over the general joy, creeping none knew whence nor how, 
but rapidly gaining shape and substance, came a shadow of doubt. 
Crowds besieged the War Department, anxious, excited, but still 
hopeful. Then the truth came ; tempered by the Government, but 
wildly exaggerated by northern sources. 

Down to zero dropped the spirits of the people ; down to a depth 
of despairing gloom, only the deeper from the height of their previous 
exultation. The dark cloud from Gettysburg rolled back over Rich- 
mond, darkened and made dense a hundred fold in the transit. 

The terrible carnage of that field was exaggerated by rumor. 
Pickett's gallant division was declared annihilated ; it was believed 
that the army had lost 20,000 men; and it was known that such 
priceless blood as that of Garnett, Pettigrew, Armistead, Pender, 
Kemper, Semmes and Barksdale had sealed the dreadful defeat. 

It only needed what came the next day, to dash the last drop from 
the cup of hope the people still tried to hold to their lips ; and that 
was the news of the fall of Vicksburg, on the 4th of July. 

And out of the thick darkness that settled on the souls of all, 
came up the groan of inquiry and blame. Why had the campaign 
failed ? they asked. Why had General Lee been forced into battle 



Four Years i7i Rebel Capitals. 257 

on ground of the enemy's choosing ? Why had he attacked works 
that only an army like his would have made an effort to take, when 
he could have flanked the enemy and forced him to fight him on his 
own terms? Why had the Government — as was alleged — allowed 
the crucial test of liberty — the crisis campaign of the war — to be un- 
dertaken without proper transportation and supplies of ammunition ? 

And why, above all, had the general they still loved and trusted, 
spite of their doubts — why had he sent their beloved Virginians un- 
supported to the shambles ? Why had he fought the whole Yankee 
army with one division ? 

Such were the murmurs on every side. And though they gradu- 
ally died away, after the first shock of surprise and grief had passed ; 
still they left a vague feeling behind that all was not well; that grave 
errors had been committed somewhere. For the southern people 
could not get over the feeling that there were no odds of numbers and 
position that could cause defeat to a southern army, properly supplied 
and properly handled. So, although the murmurs ceased, the convic- 
tion did not die with them that the battle of Gettysburg was a grave 
error; that there had been a useless waste of priceless lives; and 
that the campaign had been nullified, which else had ended the war. 

And unlike other post-disaster conclusions of the southern people, 
this did not die out. It only became strengthened and fixed, the 
more light was thrown on the vexed questions and the more they 
were canvassed. The excuses of the War Department that ammuni- 
tion had given out, were scornfully rejected. Then, said the people, 
that was your fault. General Lee could not depend — in a campaign 
in the heart of an enemy's country and far away from his base — upon 
his captures. And as to his not intending to fight a pitched battle, 
how could he calculate upon that, or why then did he fight it ; and 
upon ground of the enemy's choice? 

And with the other objections to the conduct of the campaign,, 
came that of the general's treatment of the people of Pennsylvania. 
It was felt to be an excess of moderation to a people whose armies 
had not spared the sword, the torch and insult to our unprotected 
tracts ; and it was argued — without a shadow of foundation — that 
Lee's knightly courtesy to the Dutch dames of Pennsylvania had dis- 
gusted his troops. 

Those starving and barefooted heroes would have thought it right: 
17 



258 Fotw Years in Rebel Capitals, 

if their beloved chief had fallen down and worshiped the makers 
of apple-butter! They felt he could do no wrong; and it was indi- 
rect injustice to the gallant dead that dotted Cemetery Hill — and to 
the no less gallant living ready to march up to those frowning heights 
again — to intimate that any action of their general would, or could^ 
have made them fight better. 

Excessive as was that moderation — ill advised as it might have 
proved, in case of a long campaign — it could have had no possible 
effect on the fortunes of the disastrous and brief one just ended. 

Equally unjust as that popular folly, was the aspersion upon south- 
ern sympathizers in Maryland, that they did not come forth to aid 
their friends. The part of Maryland through which southern armies 
passed in both campaigns were sparsely settled, and that with strong 
Union population. The Marylander of Baltimore and the lower 
counties — whatever may have been his wishes, was gagged and bound 
too closely to express, far less carry them out. Baltimore was filled 
with an armed guard and was, moreover, the passage-way of thou- 
sands of troops; the lower counties were watched and guarded. 
And, moreover, the Confederate army was not practically in Mary- 
land, but from the 20th of June to the ist of July. 

The taunt to the down-trodden Marylanders — oppressed and suf- 
fering bravely for conscience sake — we must in justice to ourselves 
believe only the result of grief and disappointment. Men, like 
goods, can only be judged "by sample;" and, from the beginning 
to the end of the war, Maryland may point to Archer, Winder, 
Elzey, Johnson and many another noble son — unhonored now, or 
filling, perhaps, a nameless grave — and ask if such men came from 
among a people who talked but would not act ! And so in sorrow, 
disappointment and bitterness ended the second Maryland campaign. 

And with it ended all hopes of carrying the war beyond our own 
gates in future ; happy could we beat it thence, baffled and crushed 
as ever before. 

For the short, sharp raid of General Early — penetrating to the 
gates of the Capital and with possible capabilities of even entering 
them — can hardly be considered an organized scheme of invasion. 
It was rather the spasmodic effort by a sharp, hard blow to loosen 
the tightening and death-dealing grip upon our throat, and give us 
time for one long, deep breath before the final tug for life. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 259 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE CONFEDERACY AFLOAT. 



Measured by the popular test, success, the Confederate States 
Navy would, perhaps, be accorded little merit. Even cursory exami- 
nation into the vast difficulties and discouragements with which it 
contended, will do it prompt justice. 

No men who joined the southern service sacrificed more than her 
navy officers. The very flower of the old service, they had grown 
gray in their slow promotion to its positions of honor; their families 
depended for sole support upon the pittance of pay they received. 
Still they hesitated not a moment to range themselves under the 
banners their native states had unfurled. Once there, no men 
labored more faithfully — and efficiently. Subject to misconstruction, 
to jealousy, to petty annoyances — and later, to the most pinching 
straits of poverty — they were ever uncomplaining and ever ready. 

Many and varied were the calls upon them. They commanded 
land batteries, trained raw gunners and drilled lubberly conscripts ; 
they were bridge-builders, carpenters, wood-cutters, chemists and coll- 
iers ; and, at the best, it was hard for the veteran who had, for forty 
years, trod the deck of a frigate, to be cooped in the contracted 
limits of a razeed tug, or an armed pilot boat. But once there he 
made the best of it ; and how well he wrought in the new sphere, the 
names of Hollins, Lynch, Buchanan and Tucker still attest. 

At the time the first Army Bill was passed by Congress, a law was 
also made securing to resigned naval officers the same rank they held 
in the United States service. But there was scarcely a keel in Con- 
federate waters, and small indeed was the prospect for the future ; so 
these impatient spirits, panting for active work, were put into unsuit- 
able positions at the very outset. Later, a bill was passed for a pro- 
visional navy, but there was no fleet for their occupation. The de- 
partment, therefore, used the discretion given it to confer a few 
honorary titles, and to appoint a vast number of subordinate officers, 
for shore duty in its work-shops and navy-yards. 



2 6o Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

The acceptability of Mr. Mallory to the people, at the outset of his 
career, has been noted. They believed that his long experience in 
the commitiee of naval affairs was guarantee for the important trust 
confided to him. Moreover, he was known to be relied upon by Mr. 
Davis as a man of solid intellect, of industry and perseverance. If 
his knowledge of naval affairs was entirely theoretical, it mattered 
little so long as he could turn that knowledge to practical account, by 
the counsel and aid of some of the most efficient of the scientific 
sailors of the Union. 

Mr. Mallory took charge of the Navy Department in March, '6i. 
At this time the question of iron-clads had attention of naval builders 
on both sides of the Atlantic; and deeming them indispensable to 
naval warfare, the Secretary's first movement was a strong memoir to 
Congress, urging immediate and heavy appropriations for their con- 
struction at New Orleans and Mobile. With a treasury empty and im- 
movably averse to anything like decisive action, the astute lawgivers of 
Montgomery hesitated and doubted. The most that could be forced 
from them were small appropriations for the fitting out of privateers. 

The first venture, the "Sumter," was bought, equipped and put 
into commission at the end of April ; and in the course of a few 
weeks she ran out of New Orleans, in command of Raphael Semmes, 
and the stars and bars were floating solitary, but defiant, over the seas. 
The history of her cruise, the terror she spread among the enemy's 
shipping, and the paralysis she sent to the very heart of his com- 
merce, are too well known to need repetition here. Badly-built craft 
as she was for such a service, she was still more badly equipped ; but 
so eminently successful was she that both Government and Congress 
must have been incurably blind, not to put a hundred like her upon 
every sea where the Union flag could float. 

Had one-twentieth the sum frittered away in useless iron-clads, 
and worse than useless "gunboats," been put into saucy and swift 
wasps like the " Sumter," their stings must have driven northern 
commerce from the sea; and the United States ports would have 
been more effectually blockaded, from a thousand miles at sea, than 
were those of the southern fleet-bound coast. 

It may not be irrelevant here to allude to the finale of the Con- 
federate cruisers ; and to recall the most inane farce of all those en- 
acted by the madmen who held power in ^d^. 



Four Year's in Rebel Capitals. 261 

In the January of that year, Raphael Semmes was seized and 
thrown into prison. He was now charged — not with having violated 
his parole given to General Grant, who was personally and morally 
responsible for his persecution — not with doing aught but ''obeying 
the laws themselves ;" but he was charged with having escaped, the 
year before, from the custody of a man whose prisoner he was not and 
had never been — with having broken from a durance that ought to 
have existed ! From incontrovertible testimony, we know that Cap- 
tain Semmes only raised the white flag, after his vessel began to sink ; 
that he stayed on her deck until she went down beneath him ; that 
no boat came to him from the " Kearsage," and that he was in the 
water full an hour, before the boat of the '* Deerhound " picked him 
up and carried him aboard that yacht. 

But radical hatred, and thirst for vengeance on a disarmed enemy, 
raised the absurd plea that Semmes became a prisoner of 
war by raising the white flag ; that by so doing- he gave a moral parole ! 
and violated it by saving himself from a watery grave and afterward 
taking up arms again. It is only a proof that the country was a little 
less mad than the radical leaders, that the unheard-of absurdity of 
its Navy Department was not sustained by popular opinion. It would 
have no doubt been chivalric and beautiful in Raphael Semmes to 
have drowned in the ocean, because the boat of the ** Kearsage" 
would not pick him up after accepting his " moral parole ; " but, as he 
did not see it in that light, and as he was never called upon to sur- 
render by any officer of that ship, he was perfectly free the moment 
his own deck left him in the waves. The white flag was but a token 
that he desired to save the lives of his men ; and would surrender 
them and himself, if opportunity were given. But even granting the 
nonsensical claim that it made him a prisoner — the laws of war de- 
mand absolute safety for prisoners; and the fact of the "Kearsage" 
leaving him to drown was, in itself, a release. 

There is no necessity for defense of Captain Semmes' position ; 
but it may be well to record how blind is the hate which still attempts 
to brand as ^^ Pirate " a regularly-commissioned officer in service, 
whose long career gained him nothing but respect under the north- 
ern — nothing but glory under the southern flag. If Raphael Semmes be 
a "pirate," then was the northern recognition of belligerents but an 
active lie ! Then was Robert E. Lee a marauder — Wade Hampton 
but a bushwhacker, and Joseph E. Johnston but a guerrilla ! 



262 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

When the " Sumter" began her work, she was soon followed by 
the * ' Florida " — a vessel somewhat better, but still of the same class. 
Under the dashing and efficient Maffitt, the " Florida," too, wrought 
daring destruction. Her record, like that of her rival, is too familiar 
for repetition; as is the later substitution of the "Alabama" for the 
worn-out "Sumter." 

During the long war, these three vessels — and but two of them at 
one time — were the only cruisers the Confederacy had afloat ; until 
just before its close, the "Shenandoah " went out to strike fresh ter- 
ror to the heart and pocket of New England. Then, also, that strong- 
handed and cool-headed amphiboid. Colonel John Taylor Wood, made 
— with wretched vessels and hastily-chosen crews — most effective 
raids on the coasting shipping of the Northeast. 

One popular error pervades all which has been said or written, 
on both sides of the line, about the Confederate navy. This is the 
general title of "privateer," given to all vessels not cooped up in 
southern harbors. Regularly-commissioned cruisers, like the "Ala- 
bama" and "Florida," the property of the Navy Department, and 
commanded by its regularly-commissioned officers, were no more 
"privateers" than were the " Minnesota," or " Kearsage." 

There was a law passed, regulating the issue of letters of marque ; 
and from time to time much was heard of these in the South. But 
after the first spirt of the saucy little "Jeff Davis," not more than 
two or three ever found their way to sea ; and even these accomplished 
nothing. 

At one time, a company with heavy capital was gotten up in Rich- 
mond, for the promotion of such enterprises ; but it was looked upon 
as a job and was little successful in any sense. 

So, with all the ports of the world open to belligerent ships ; with 
unsurpassed sailors "panting for the very lack of element" in musty 
offices, privateers did not increase in number ; and one of the most 
effective engines of legitimate warfare was but illustrated, instead of 
being utilized. 

Meantime, the Navy Department had ceased to importune for ap- 
propriations to build iron-clads at New Orleans ; an omission that 
carried the grave responsibility for loss of that city, and for the far 
graver disaster of the closing of the whole river and the blockade of 
the trans-Mississippi. For had the *' Louisiana" been furnished v/ith 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 263 

two companion ships of equal strength — or even had she been com- 
pletely finished and not had been compelled to succumb to accidents 
within, while she braved the terrific fire from without — the Federal 
fleet might have been crushed hke egg-shells ; the splendid exertions 
of Hollins and Kennon in the past would not have been nullified; 
the blood of Mcintosh and Huger would not have been useless sacri- 
fice ; and the homes of the smiling city and the pure vicinage of her 
noble daughters might not have been polluted by the presence of the 
commandant, who crawled in after the victorious fleet. 

Norfolk, however, had come into southern possession, by the se- 
cession of Virginia ; and the vast resources of her navy-yard — only 
partly crippled by the haste of the Federal retreat — stimulated the 
Government. A meager appropriation was passed for the construc- 
tion of the " Merrimac ;" or rather for an iron-clad ship upon the 
hull of the half-destroyed frigate of that name. Had the whole 
amount necessary for her completion been given, the vessel would 
have been ready weeks before she was, under the dribblet system 
adopted. Then, indeed, it would be hard to overestimate her value ; 
damage to shipping in Hampton Roads; or her ultimate effect upon 
McClellan's campaign. 

No appropriation for an object of vital import could be shaken 
free from its bonds of red tape ; and this one was saddled with an 
incubus, in the bill for the "construction of one hundred gunboats." 
The scheme to build that number of wooden vessels of small size 
seemed equally short-sighted and impracticable. They could only 
be built on inland rivers and creeks, to prevent attacks by the 
enemy's heavier vessels ; and hence they were necessarily small and 
ineffective. The interior navy-yards had, moreover, to be guarded 
against surprises by the enemy's cavalry ; and as men were so scarce, 
it was generally arranged that the navy-yard should follow the army 
lines. Constantly shifting position — caused by the rapid movements 
of the enemy, left these impromptu ship-yards unprotected ; and then 
a small party of raiders would either burn them, or force their build- 
ers to do so. It was not until the appropriation was nearly spent — 
although not one efficient gunboat of this class was ever finished — that 
the system was abandoned as utterly worthless and impracticable. 

Had the large sum thus wasted been applied to the purchase of 
swift and reliable cruisers — or to the speedy and energetic comple- 



264 Four Years z« Rebel Capitals. 

tion of one iron-clad at a time — it would have read a far more telling 
story to the enemy, both in prestige and result. 

But even in the case of these, energy and capital were divided 
and distracted. On completion of the " Merrimac," there were in the 
course of construction at New Orleans, two mailed vessels of a differ- 
ent class — one of them only a towboat covered with railroad iron. 
There were also two small ones on the stocks at Charleston, and an- 
other at Savannah. The great difficulty of procuring proper iron; 
of rolling it when obtained ; and the mismanagement of transporta- 
tion, even when the plates were ready — made the progress of all these 
boats very slow. Practicality would have concentrated the whole 
energy of the Department upon one at a time ; not have left them all 
unfinished, either to prove utterly useless at the trying moment, or to 
fall a prey to superior force of the enemy. 

The plan of the "Merrimac" was unique, in the submersion of 
her projecting eaves; presenting a continuous angHng coat of mail 
even below the water-surface. She was built upon the razeed hull of 
the old "Merrimac," of four-and-a-half-inch iron, transverse plates; 
and carried an armament of seven-inch rifled Brooke guns, made 
expressly for her. There was much discussion at one time, as to 
whom the credit for her plan was really due. It finally was generally 
conceded, however, that her origin and perfection were due to Com- 
mander John M. Brooke ; and the terrible banded rifle-gun and bolt, 
she used with such effect on the ** Cumberland," was his undisputed 
invention. 

Much wonder had the good people of Norfolk expressed in their 
frequent visits to the strange-looking, turtle-like structure. Day by 
day she slowly grew; and at length, after weary work and weary 
waiting, took on her armament ; then her crew was picked carefully 
from eager volunteers : her grand old captain took his place, and all 
was ready for the trial. 

During all this time Hampton Roads had been gay with Federal 
shipping. Frigates, gunboats, transports and supply ships ran de- 
fiantly up and down ; laughing at the futile efforts of the point bat- 
teries to annoy them, and indulging in a dream of security that was 
to be most rudely broken. The "Susquehanna" frigate, with heav- 
iest armament in the Federal navy, laid in the channel at Newport 
News, blockading the mouth of James river and cutting off com- 



Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 265 

munication from Norfolk. The ''Congress" frigate was lying near 
her, off the News; while the ** Minnesota" lay below, under the 
guns of Fortress Monroe. The Ericsson Monitor — the first of her 
class, and equally an experiment as her rebel rival — had come round 
a few days before to watch the ** Virginia," as the new iron-clad was 
now rechristened. 

The great ship being ready, Flag-Officer Buchanan ordered the 
"Jamestown," Captain Barney, and the "Yorktown," Captain 
Tucker, down from Richmond; while he went out with the "Ra- 
leigh" and "Beaufort" — two of the smallest class of gunboats, 
saved by Captain Lynch from Roanoke Island. This combined 
force — four of the vessels being frail wooden shells, formerly used as 
river passenger boats — carried only twenty-seven guns. But Buch- 
anan steamed boldly out, on the morning of the 8th of March, to 
attack an enemy carrying quite two hundred and twenty of the heaviest 
guns in the United States navy! 

It was a moment of dreadful suspense for the soldiers in the bat- 
teries and the people of Norfolk. They crowded the wharves, the 
steeples, and the high points of the shore; and every eye was strained 
upon the black specks in the harbor. 

Slowly — with somewhat of majesty in her stolid, even progress — 
the "Virginia" steamed on — down the harbor — past the river bat- 
teries — out into the Roads. Steadily she kept her way, heading 
straight for the "Cumberland;" and close to her stuck the frail 
wooden boats that a single shell might have shattered. On she went 
— into full range. Then suddenly, as if from one match, shipping 
and shore batteries belched forth the great shells hurtling over her, 
hissing into the water — bounding from her side like raindrops from 
a rock! On she headed — straight for the " Cumberland; " the crew 
of that ship steadily working their heated guns and wondering at the 
strange, silent monster that came on so evenly, so slowly — so regard- 
less alike of shot and shell. Suddenly she spoke. 

The terrible shell from her bow-gun tore the huge frigate from 
stern to bow ; driving in her quarter, dismounting guns and scatter- 
ing death along its course. Shocked and staggered, Uncle Sam's 
tars still stuck to their work. Once more the " Cumberland* deliv- 
ered her whole broadside, full in her enemy's face at pistol range. It 
was her death volley. The submerged ram had struck home. A 



266 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

great rent yawned in the ship's sidej she filled rapidly — careened 
— went down by the bows — her flag still flying— her men still at 
quarters ! 

On past her — scarce checked in her deadly-slow course — moved 
the " Virginia." Then she closed on the " Congress," and one terrific 
broadside after another raked the frigate ', till, trembling like a card- 
house, she hauled down her colors and raised the white flag. The 
"Beaufort" ranged alongside and received the flag of the *' Con- 
gress," and her captain, William R. Smith, and Lieutenant Pender- 
grast as prisoners of war. These officers left their side-arms on the 
*' Beaufort" and returned to the "Congress;" when — notwithstand- 
ing the white flag — a hot fire was opened from shore upon the ' ' Beau- 
fort," and she was compelled to withdraw. Lieutenant Robert 
Minor was then sent in a boat from the "Virginia " to fire the frigate; 
but was badly wounded by a Minie-ball, from under the white flag ; 
and Captain Buchanan was seriously hit in the leg by the same volley. 
Then it was determined to burn the " Congress" with hot shot. 

There is no room for comment here ; and no denial of these facts 
has ever been made, or attempted. 

Meanwhile, the frigates "Minnesota," "St. Lawrence" and 
"Roanoke" had advanced and opened fire on the "Virginia;" but 
upon her approach to meet it, they retired under the guns of the fort ; 
the " Minnesota" badly damaged by the heavy fire of her antagonist, 
while temporarily aground. 

Next day the " Virginia " had a protracted but indecisive fight 
with the "Monitor;" the latter's lightness preventing her being run 
down and both vessels seeming equally impenetrable. Later in the 
day the victorious ship steamed back to Norfolk, amid the wildest 
enthusiasm of its people. The experiment had proved a success be- 
yond the wildest expectation: and a new era seemed opened in naval 
warfare. 

But however great the meed of praise deserved by the iron ship 
and her crew, at least as much was due to those of the wooden gun- 
boats that had so gallantly seconded her efforts. All day long had 
those frail shells been urged into the thickest of that terrific fire. 
Shot flew by, over and through them ; and it seemed miraculous that 
they were not torn into shreds ! 

The success of the "Virginia," while it gave food for much com- 



Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 267 

ment at the North and in Europe, had the effect of stimulating the 
Department to renewed exertions elsewhere. At the same time it 
raised the navy greatly in the estimation of the people, who began 
now to see of what material it was composed, to accomplish so much 
with such limited means and opportunity. And this opinion was to be 
strengthened, from time to time, by the brilliant flashes of naval 
daring that came to illumine some of the darkest hours of the war. 

Who does not remember that defense of Drewry's Bluff when Eben 
Farrand had only three gunboat crews and three hastily mounted gunSy 
with which to drive back the heavy fleet that knew Richmond city 
lay helpless at its mercy ? 

And those desperate, yet brilliant fights off New Orleans, against 
every odds of metal, numbers, and worse, of internal mismanage- 
ment. Do they not illustrate the character of the navy, and bring it 
out in bold relief of heroism ? Nor should we forget the brief but 
brilliant life of the " Arkansas" — born in danger and difficulty ; sur- 
rounded on every side by numberless active foes ; and finally dying, 
not from the blow of an enemy, but from the fault of those who sent 
her forth unfinished and incomplete ! 

Those trying times recall the conduct of Captain Lynch and his 
squadron of shells ; and of the veteran Cooke in the batteries, on 
the dark day that lost Roanoke Island. Nor may we lose sight of 
the splendid conduct of that latter grim old seadog, when, returning 
wounded and prison- worn, he bore down on Plymouth in the "Albe- 
marle " and crushed the Federal gunboats like egg-shells. 

And conspicuous, even among these fellow-sailors, stands John 
Taylor Wood. Quick to plan and strong to strike, he ever and anon 
would collect a few trusty men and picked oflicers; glide silently 
out from Richmond, where his duties as colonel of cavalry on the 
President's staff chained him most of the time. Soon would come 
an echo from the frontier, telling of quick, sharp struggle; victorious 
boarding and a Federal gunboat or two given to the flames. I have 
already alluded to his dashing raid upon the fishery fleet \ but his 
cunning capture of the gunboats in the Rappahannock, or his cool 
and daring attack on the " Underwriter," during Pickett's move- 
ment on Newberne, would alone give him undying reputation. 

The United States had a navy in her waters that would class as 
the third maritime power of the world ; and this she rapidly increased 



268 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

by every appliance of money, skill and energy. She bought and 
built ships and spent vast sums and labor in experiments in ord- 
nance, armoring and machinery. As result of this, the Federal 
navy, at the end of the second year of the war, numbered some 
390 vessels of all grades, carrying a fraction over 3,000 guns. Be- 
fore the end of the war it had increased to near 800 vessels of 
war of all grades; the number of guns had doubled and were 
infinitely heavier and more effective; and the number of ten- 
ders, tugs, transports and supply ships would have swelled the navy 
list to over 1,300 vessels. 

To meet this formidable preparation, the Confederate Navy De- 
partment in May, '61, had one gidf steainer in commission; had the 
fragments of the Norfolk Navy Yard; the refuse of the harbor boats 
of Charleston, New Orleans, Savannah and Mobile to select from ; 
and had, besides, the neglect of Congress and the jealousy of the other 
branch of the service. 

Spite of all these drawbacks, the rare powers of the navy officers 
forced themselves into notice and use. 

Before the close of the war, the only two rolling-mills in the Con- 
federacy were in charge of navy officers. They built powder-mills 
and supplied their own demands; and, to a great extent, those of 
the army. They established rope-walks and became the seekers for 
the invaluable stores of niter and coal that both branches of the serv- 
ice so much needed. More than this, they made from nothing — 
and in spite of constant losses from exposure to the enemy and in- 
complete supplies — a fleet of iron-clads numbering at one time nine 
vessels; and a wooden navy at the same moment reaching some thir- 
ty-five. 

But these — scattered over the vast area of water courses, far from 
supporting each other — were unable to cope with the superior strength 
of metal and construction brought against them. 

That much-discussed torpedo system, too — regarding the utility 
of which there was such diversity of opinion — had its birth and per- 
fection in the navy. It was a service of science and perseverance ; 
frequently of exposure to every peril. It required culture, nerve and 
administrative ability; and it was managed in the main with success. 
Still the results were hardly commensurate with the outlay involved ; 
for though James river, some of the western streams, and Charleston 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 269" 

harbor were literally sown with torpedoes, yet only in rare and 
isolated instances — such as the *' De Kalb " and " Commodore Jones " 
— did the results equal the expectation. Thousands of tons of 
valuable powder, much good metal and more valuable time at the 
work-shops were expended on torpedoes ; and, on the whole, it is very 
doubtful if the amount destroyed was not more than balanced by the 
amoimt expended. 

Thus, with varying fortunes — but with unceasing endeavor and un- 
failing courage — the navy worked on. That hue and cry against it — 
which a brilliant success would partially paralyze — soon gathered force 
in its intervals of enforced inaction. Just after the triumph of Hamp- 
ton Roads was, perhaps, the brightest hour for the navy in public 
estimation. People then began to waver in their belief that its admin- 
istration was utterly and hopelessly wrong ; and to think that its chief 
had not perhaps sinned quite as much as he had been sinned against. 

The old adage about giving a bad name, however, was more than 
illustrated in Mr. Mallory's case. He had no doubt been unfortunate ; 
but that he really was guilty of one-half the errors and mishaps laid 
at his door was simply impossible. Not taking time — and, perhaps, 
without the requisite knowledge — to compare the vast discrepancy of 
force between the two governments, the masses only saw the rapid 
increase of the Federal navy and felt the serious effects of its effi- 
ciency. Then they grumbled that the Confederate secretary — with 
few work-shops, scattered navy-yards, little money and less transpor- 
tation — did not proceed pari passu to meet these preparations. Every 
result of circumstance, every accident, every inefficiency of a subor- 
dinate was visited upon Mr. Mallory's head. Public censure always 
makes the meat it feeds on ; and the secretary soon became the target 
for shafts of pitiable malice, or of unreflecting ridicule. When the 
enemy's gunboats — built at secure points and fitted out without stint 
of cost, labor or material — ascended to Nashville, a howl was raised 
that the Navy Department should have had the water defenses ready. 
True, Congress had appropriated half a million for the defenses of 
the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers; but the censorious public 
forgot that the money had been voted too late. Even then it was 
quite notorious, that in the red-tape system of requisition and delay 
that hedged the Treasury — an appropriation and the money it named 
were totally diverse things. 



270 Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 

When New Orleans fell, curses loud and deep went up against the 
Navy Department. Doubtless there was some want of energy in push- 
ing the iron-clads there ; but again in this case the money was voted 
very late; and even Confederate machine-shops and Confederate 
laborers could not be expected to give their material, time and labor 
entirely for nothing. Had Congress made the appropriations as asked, 
and had the money been forthcoming at the Treasury — New Orleans 
might not have fallen as she did. 

Later still, when the "Virginia" was blown up on the evacuatioH 
of Norfolk, a howl of indignation was raised against Secretary, De- 
partment and all connected with it. A Court of Inquiry was called ; 
and Commodore Tatnall himself demanded a court-martial, upon the 
first court not ordering one. 

The facts proved were that the ship, with her iron coating and 
heavy armament, drew far too much water to pass the shoal at Har- 
rison's Bar — between her and Richmond. With Norfolk in the ene- 
my's hands, the hostile fleet pressing her — and with no poant whence 
to draw supplies — she could not remain, as the cant went, "the grim 
sentinel to bar all access to the river." It was essential to lighten 
her, if possible ; and the effort was made by sacrificing her splendid 
armament. Even then she would not lighten enough by two feet; 
the enemy pressed upon her, now perfectly unarmed ; and Tatnall was 
forced to leave and fire her. 

People forgot the noble achievements of the ship under naval guid- 
ance ; that, if destroyed by naval men, she was the offspring of naval 
genius. With no discussion of facts, the cry against the navy went 
on, even after that splendid defense of Drewry's Bluff by Farrand, 
which alone saved Richmond ! 

As a pioneer, the "Virginia" was a great success and fully 
demonstrated the theory of her projector. But there were many 
points about her open to grave objections ; and she was, as a whde, 
far inferior to the smaller vessels afterward built upon her model at 
Richmond. Armed with the same gun, there is little doubt but the 
" Monitor " would have proved — from her superior lightness and 
obedience to her helm — no less than from her more compact build — 
at least her equal. Officers on the * ' Virginia " shared in this belief of 
her advantages over her terrible antagonist. 

On the whole, the experience of the war tells of honest endeavor 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 271 

and brilliant achievement, under surpassing difficulty, for the Con- 
federate navy. That it was composed of gallant, noble-hearted men, 
none who were thrown with them can doubt; that they wrought 
heart and hand for the cause, in whatever strange and novel position, 
none ever did doubt. 

They made mistakes. Who in army, or government, did not ? 

But from the day they offered their swords ; through the unequal 
contest of the Sounds, the victorious one of Hampton Roads ; pining 
for the sea in musty offices, or drilling green conscripts in sand bat- 
teries ; marching steadily to the last fight at Appomattox — far out of 
their element — the Confederate sailors flinched not from fire nor fled 
from duty. Though their country grumbled, and detraction and in- 
gratitude often assailed them j yet at the bitter ending no man nor 
woman in the broad South but believed they had done their devoir — 
honestly — manfully — well ! 

Who in all that goodly throng of soldiers, statesmen and critics — 
did more ? 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE CHINESE-WALL BLOCKADE, ABROAD AXD AT HOME. 

Potent factor in sapping the foundations of Confederate hope and 
of Confederate credit, was the blockade. 

First held in contempt ; later fruitful mother of errors, as to the 
movements and intentions of European powers; ever the growing 
constrictor — whose coil was slowly, but surely, to crush out life — it 
became each year harder to bear : — at last unbearable ! 

At first, Mr. Lincoln's proclamation was laughed to scorn at the 
South. The vast extent of South Atlantic and Gulf coast — pierced 
with innumerable safe harbors — seemed to defy any scheme for 
hermetic sealing. The limited Federal navy was powerless to do 
more than keep loose watch over ports of a few large cities; and, 
if these were even eflectually closed, it was felt that new ones would 
open, on every hand, inviting the ventures of enterprising sailors. 

This reasoning had good basis, at first; and — had the South made 
prompt and efiicient use of opportunity and resources at hand, by 
placing credits abroad and running in essential supplies — the result 
of the first year's blockade might largely have nullified its effect, for 
the last three. But there seemed indurated contempt for the safety- 
bearing look ahead; and its very inefficiency, at the outset, of the 
blockade lulled the South into false security. 

The preceding pages note the rapid and vast growth of the Union 
navy; but the South misjudged — until error had proved fatal — that 
enterprise and "grit" of Yankee character; that fixed steadiness of 
purpose which forced both, ever, into most resultful effort. And, so 
gradual were appreciable results of this naval growth ; so nearly im- 
perceptible was the actual closing of southern ports — that the masses 
of the people realized no real evil, until it had long been accom- 
plished fact. 

Already record has been made of the urgence on Government of 
sending cotton abroad, and importing arms, munitions and clothing, 



Four Vea?'s in Rebel Capitals. 273 

which ordinary foresight declared so needful. But— only when the 
proper moment had long passed — was the then doubtful experiment 
made. 

A twin delusion to the kingship of cotton besotted the leaders as 
to the blockade. Arguing its illegality equal to its inefficiency, they 
were convinced that either could be demonstrated to Europe. And 
here let us glance briefly at the South's suicidal foreign policy ; and 
at the feeling of other people regarding it. 

Under the Treaty of Paris, no blockade was de /ado, or to be 
recognized, unless it was demonstrated to be effectual closing of the 
port, or ports, named. Now, in the South, were one or two ships, at 
most, before the largest ports ; with an average of one vessel for 
every hundred miles of coast ! And so inefficient was the early 
blockade of Charleston, Wilmington and New Orleans, that traders 
ran in and out, actually with greater frequency than before those 
ports were proclaimed closed. Their Government declared — and the 
southern people believed — that such nominal blockade would not be 
respected by European powers ; and reliant upon the kingship of cot- 
ton inducing early recognition, both believed that the ships of Eng- 
land and France — disregarding the impotent paper closure — would 
soon crowd southern wharves and exchange the royal fleece for the 
luxuries, no less than the necessaries, of life. 

When the three first commissioners to Europe — ^Messrs. Yancey, 
Rost and Mann — sailed from Nev/ Orleans, on March 31, '61, their 
mission was hailed as harbinger to speedy fruition of these de- 
lusive thoughts, to which the wish alone was father. Then — though 
very gradually — began belief that they had reckoned too fast ; and 
doubt began to chill glowing hopes of immediate recognition from 
Europe. But there w-as none, as yet, relative to her ultimate action. 
The successful trial trip of the "Nashville," Captain Pegram, C. S. 
N. — and her warm reception by the British press and people — pre- 
vented that. And, after every victory of the South, her newspapers 
were filled with praise from the press of England. But gradually — 
as recognition did not come — first Vv^onder, then doubt, and finally 
despair took the place of certainty. 

When Mr. Yancey came back, in disgust, and made his plain 
statement of the true state of foreign sentiment, he carried public 
opinion to his side; and — while the Government could then do 
18 



2 74 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

nothing but persist in effort for recognition, now so vital — the people 
felt that d'gnity was uselessly compromised, while their powerless 
representatives were kept abroad, to knock weakly at the back door 
of foreign intervention. 

Slight reaction came, when IMason and Slidell were captured on 
the high seas, under a foreign flag. Mr. Seward so boldly defied the 
rampant Lion ; Congress so promptly voted thanks to Captain "Wilkes, 
for violating international law; the Secretary of the Navy — after 
slyly pulling down the blinds — so bravely patted him on the back — 
that the South renewed her hope, in the seeming certainty of war 
between the two countries. But she had calculated justly neither the 
power of retraction in American policy, nor Secretary Seward's vast 
capacity for eating his own words; and the rendition of her com- 
missioners — with their perfectly quiet landing upon British soil — was, 
at last, accepted as sure token of how little they would accomplish. 
And, for over three years, those commissioners blundered on in thick 
darkness — that might not be felt; butting their heads against fixed 
policy at every turn ; snubbed by subordinates^to whom alone they 
had access; yet eating, unsparingly and with seeming appetite, the 
bountiful banquet of cold shoulder ! 

It is not supposable that tlie people of the South realized to the 
full that humiliation, to which their State Department was subjecting 
them. Occasionally ]\Ir. Mason, seeing a gleam of something which 
might some day be light, would send hopeful despatches; or before 
the hopeful eyes of Mr. Slidell, would rise roseate clouds of promise, 
light with bubbles of aid — intervention — recognition ! Strangely 
enough, these would never burst until just after their description ; and 
the secretary fostered the widest latitude in press-rumors thereanent, 
but deemed it politic to forget contradiction, when — as was invariably 
the case — the next blockade-runner brought flat denial of all that 
its precedent had carried. 

Still, constant promises with no fulfillment, added to limited private 
correspondence with foreign capitals, begat mistrust in elusive theories^ 
which was rudely changed to simple certainty. 

Edwin DeLeon had been sent by Mr. Davis on a special mission 
to London and Paris, after Mr. Yancey's return; his action to be 
independent of the regularly established futility. In August, 1S63, 
full despatches from him, to the southern President and State 



Four Year's in Rebel Capitals. 275 

Department, were captured and published in the New York papers. 
These came through the Hnes and gave the southern people the full 
and clear expose of the foreign question, as it had long been fully 
and clearly known to their government. 

This publication intensified what had been vague opposition to 
further retention abroad of the commissioners. The people felt 
that their national honor was compromised; and, moreover, they 
now realized that Europe had — and would have — but one policy re- 
garding the Confederacy. 

Diplomatically regarded, the position of the South was actually 
unprecedented. Europe felt the delicacy — and equally the danger — 
of interference in a family quarrel, which neither her theories nor 
her experience had taught her to comprehend. Naturally jealous of 
the growing power of the American Union, Europe may, moreover, 
have heard dictates of the policy of letting it exhaust itself, in this 
internal feud ; of waiting until both sides — weakened, wearied and 
worn out — should draw off from the struggle and make intervention 
more nominal than needful. This view of "strict neutrality" — 
openly vaunted only to be practically violated — takes color from the 
fact of her permitting each side to hammer away at the other for four 
years, without one word even of protest! 

Southern prejudice ever inclined more favorably toward France 
than England; the scale tilting, perhaps, by weight of Franco-Latin 
influence among the people, perhaps by belief in the suggested theo- 
ries of the third Napoleon. Therefore, intimations of French recog- 
nition were always more welcomed than false rumors about English 
aid. 

In the North also prevailed an idea that France might intervene — 
or even recognize the Confederacy — before colder England ; but 
that did not cause impartial Jonc.than to exhibit less bitter, or unrea- 
soning, hatred of John Bull. Yet, as a practical fact, the alleged 
neutrality of the latter was far more operative against the South 
than the North. For — omitting early recognition of a blockade, 
invalid under the Treaty of Paris — England denied both belligerent 
navies the right to refit — or bring in prizes — at her ports. Now, as 
the United States had open ports and needed no such grace, while 
the South having no commerce thus afforded no prizes — every point 
of this decision was against her. 



276 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Equally favoring the North was the winking at recruiting ; for, if 
men were not actually enlisted on British soil and under that flag, 
thousands of "emigrants" — males only; with expenses and bounty 
paid by United States recruiting agents — were poured out of British 
territory each month. 

When France sent her circular to England and Russia, suggesting 
that the time had come for mediation, the former summarily rejected 
the proposition. Besides, England's treatment of the southern com- 
missioners was coldly neglectful ; and — from the beginning to the 
end of the Confederacy, the sole aid she received from England was 
personal sympathy in isolated instances. But British contractors and 
traders had tacit governmental permission to build ships for the rebels, 
or to sell them arms and supplies, at their own risks. And, spite of 
these well-known facts, northern buncombe never tired of assailing 
'' the rebel sympathies" of England! 

With somewhat of race sympathy between the two peoples, the 
French emperor's movements to feel the pulse of Europe, from time 
to time, on the question of mediation, kept up the popular delusion 
at the South. This was shared, to a certain extent, even by her 
government ; and Mr. Slidell's highly-colored despatches would refan 
the embers of hope into a glow. But while Napoleon, the Little, 
may have had the subtlest head in Europe, he doubtless had the hard- 
est ; and the feeble handling by the southern commissioner, of that 
edged-tool, diplomacy, could have aroused only amusement in those 
subordinate officials, whom alone he reached. 

The real policy of France was doubtless, from the beginning, as 
fixed as was that of England ; and though she may have hesitated, for 
a time, at the tempting bait offered — monopoly of southern cotton 
and tobacco — the reasons coercing that policy were too strong to let 
her swallow it at last. 

For the rest, Russia had always openly sympathized with the 
North ; and other European nations had very vague notions of the 
merits of the struggle ; less interest in its termination ; and least of 
all, sympathy with what to them was mere rebellion. 

And this true condition of foreign affairs, the Confederate State 
Department did know, in great part ; should have known in detail ; 
and owed it to the people to explain and promulgate. But for some 
occult reason, Mr. Benjamin refused to view the European land- 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 277 

scape, except through the Claude Lorrain glass which Mr. Slidell 
persistently held up before him. The expose of Mr. Yancey, the few- 
sturdy truths Mr. Mason later told ; and the detailed resume sent by 
Mr. DeLeon and printed in the North — all these were ignored ; and 
the wishes of the whole people were disregarded, that the line begun 
upon, should not be deviated from. There may have been some- 
thing deeply underlying this policy ; for Secretary Benjamin was clear- 
sighted, shrewd and well-informed. But what that something was 
has never been divulged; and the people — believing the Secretary 
too able to be deluded by his subordinate — revolted. 

The foreign policy grew more and more into popular disfavor; 
the press condemned it, in no stinted terms ; it permeated the other 
branches of the government and, finally, reacted upon the armies in 
the field. For the growing dislike of his most trusted adviser began 
to affect Mr. Davis ; his ready assumption of all responsibility at the 
beginning having taught the people to look direct to him for all of 
good, or of evil, alike. 

As disaster followed disaster to southern arms ; as one fair city- 
after another fell into the lap of the enemy ; as the blockade drew its 
coil tighter and tighter about the vitals of the Confederacy — the cry 
of the people was raised to their chief ; demanding the cause of it all. 
The first warm impulses of patriotic and inflammable masses had 
pedestaled him as a demigod. The revulsion was gradual; but, 
with the third year of unrelieved blockade, it became complete. 
And this was due, in part, to that proclivity of masses to measure 
men by results, rather than by their means for accomplishment ; it 
was due in greater part, perhaps, to the President's unyielding refusal 
to sacrifice either his convictions, or his favorites, to popular clamor, 
however re-enforced by argument, or reason. 

Mr. Davis certainly seemed to rely more upon Mr. Benjamin than 
any member of his Cabinet ; and the public laid at that now unpop- 
ular official's dpor all errors of policy— domestic as well as foreign. 
Popular wrath ever finds a scape-goat; but in the very darkest hour 
Mr. Benjamin remained placid and smiling, his brow unclouded and 
his sleek, pleasant manner deprecating the rumbling of the storm he 
had raised, by his accomplishments and sophistries. When his re- 
moval was clamorously demanded by popular voice, his chief closed 
his ears and moved on unheeding — grave — defiant ! 



278 Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 

Calm retrospect shows that the Confederacy's commissioners were^ 
from first to last, only played with by the skilled sophists of Europe. 
And, ere the end came, that absolute conviction penetrated the 
blockade ; convincing the South that her policy would remain one of 
strict non-intervention. 

After each marked southern success, would come some revival of 
recognition rumors ; but these were ever coupled, now, with an im- 
portant "if! " If New Orleans had not fallen; if we had won An- 
tietam ; if Gettysburg had been a victory — then we might have been 
welcomed into the family of nations. But over the mass of thinkers 
settled the dark conviction that Europe saw her best interest, in 
standing by to watch the sections rend and tear each other to the ut- 
most. Every fiber either lost was so much subtraction from that 
balance of power, threatening to pass across the Atlantic. The 
greater the straits to which we reduce each other, said the South, the 
better will it please Europe; and the only faith in her at last, was 
that she hoped to see the breach permanent and irreconcilable, and 
with it all hopes of rival power die ! 

If the theory be correct, that it was the intent of the Great Powers 
to foster the chance of two rival governments on this continent, it 
seems short-sighted in one regard. For — had they really recognized 
the dire extremity, to which the South was at last brought, they 
should either have furnished her means, directly or indirectly, to 
prolong the strife; or should have intervened and established a 
broken and shattered duality, in place of the stable and recemented 
Union. 

Nor can thinkers, on either side, cavil at Europe's policy during 
that war; calculating, selfish and cruel as it may seem to the senti- 
mentalist. If corporations really have no bowels, governments can 
not be looked to for nerves. Interest is the life blood of their 
systems ; and interest was doubtless best subserved by the course of 
the Great Powers. For the rumors of destitution and of disaffection 
in France and England — caused by the blockade-begotten "cotton 
famine — that crept through the Chinese wall, were absurdly magnified, 
both as to their proportions and their results. And the sequel proved 
that it was far cheaper for either nation to feed a few thousand idle 
operatives — or to quell a few incipient bread riots — than to unsettle a 
fixed policy, and that at the risk of a costly foreign war. 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 279 

There was bitter disappointment in the South, immediately suc- 
ceeding dissipation of these rosy, but nebulous, hopes in the kingship 
of cotton. Then reaction came — strong, general and fruitful. Sturdy 
* ' Johnny Reb " yearned for British rifles, shoes, blankets and bacon ; 
but he wanted them most of all, to tvvi his own independence and to 
force its recognition ! 

There are optimists everywhere; and even the dark days of Dixie 
proved no exception to the rule. It was not unusual to hear prate of 
the vast benefits derived from the blockade ; of the energy, resource 
and production, expressed under its cruel constriction ! Such opti- 
mists — equally at fault as were their pessimistic opponents — pointed 
proudly to the powder-mills, blast-furnaces, foundries and rolling- 
mills, springing up on every hand. They saw the great truth that the 
internal resources of the South developed with amazing rapidity ; that 
arms were manufactured and supplies of vital need created, as it were 
out of nothing; but they missed the true reason for that abnormal 
development, which was the dire stress from isolation. They rejoiced 
to very elation at a popular effort, spontaneous — unanimous — su- 
preme ! But they realized little that it was exhaustive as well. 

Could these life-needs the South was compelled to create within, 
have been procured from without, they had not alone been far less 
costly in time, labor and money — but the many hands called from 
work equally as vital had not then been diverted from it. The South 
was self-supporting, as the hibernator that crawls into a stump to sub- 
sist upon its own fat. But that stump is not sealed up, and Bruin — 
who goes to bed in autumn, sleek and round, to come out a skeleton 
at springtime — quickly reproduces lost tissue. With the South, ma- 
terial once consumed was gone forever ; and the drain upon her 
people — material — mental — moral — was permanent and fatal. 

One reason why the result of the blockade — after it became 
actually effective — was not earlier realized generally at the South, was 
that private speculation promptly utilized opportunities, which the 
Government had neglected. What appeared huge overstock of cloth- 
ing and other prime necessities had been ''run in," while there 
was yet time ; and before they had advanced in price, under quick 
depreciation of paper money. Then profits doubled so rapidly that. 
— spite of their enhanced risk from mere effective blockade — private 
ventures, and even great companies formed for the purpose, made. 



28o Foia- Years in Rebel Capitals. 

*' blockade-breaking " the royal road to riches. Almost every con- 
ceivable article of merchandise came to southern ports; often in 
quantities apparently sufficient to glut the market — almost always of 
inferior quality and manufactured specially for the great, but cheap, 
trade now sprung up. 

Earlier ventures were content with profit of one, or two hundred 
per cent.; calculating thus for a ship and cargo, occasionally captured. 
But as such risk increased and Confederate money depreciated, per- 
centage on blockade ventures ran up in compound ratio ; and it be- 
came no unusual thing for a successful investment to realize from 
fifteen hundred to two thousand per cent, on its first cost. 

Still, even this profit as against the average of loss — perhaps two 
cargoes out of five — together with the uncertain value of paper money, 
left the trade hazardous. Only great capital, ready to renew promptly 
every loss, could supply the demand — heretofore shown to have 
grown morbid, under lost faith in governmental credit. Hence sprung 
the great blockade-breaking corporations, like the Bee Company, 
Collie & Co. , or Fraser, Trenholm & Co. With capital and credit un- 
limited; with branches at every point of purchase, reshipment and 
entry ; with constantly growing orders from the departments — these 
giant concerns could control the market and make their own terms. 
Their growing power soon became quasi dictation to Govern- 
ment itself; the national power was filtered through these alien 
arteries; and the South became the victim — its Treasury the mere 
catspaw — of the selfsame system, which clear sight and medium 
ability could so easily have averted from the beginning ! 

Even when pressure for supplies was most dire and Govern- 
ment had become almost wholly dependent for them upon the monop- 
oly octopus — it would not move. Deaf to urgent appeals of its 
trusted officers, to establish a system of light, swift blockade-run- 
ners, the Department admitted their practical necessity, by entering 
into a limited partnership with a blockade-breaking firm. And, it 
must go without saying that the bargain driven was like the boy's : 
** You and I will each take half and the rest we'll give to Anne !" 

As noted, in considering finance, the mania for exchanging paper 
money for something that could be enjoyed, grew apace as the war 
progressed. Fancy articles for dress, table luxuries and frippery of 
all sorts came now into great demand. Their importation increased 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 281 

to such bulk as, at last, to exclude the more necessary parts of most 
cargoes ; and not less to threaten complete demoralization of such mi- 
nority as made any money. It may seem a grim joke ; — the starv- 
ing, tattered — moribund Confederacy passing sumptuary laws, as had 
Venice in her recklessness of riches ! But, in 1864, a law was 
necessitated against importation of all articles, not of utility; for- 
bidden luxuries being named per schedule. That its constant evasion 
— if not its open defiance — was very simple, may be understood; 
for the blockade firms had now become a power coequal with Gov- 
ernment, and exceptions were listed, sufficient to become the rule. 

And so the leeches waxed fat and flourished on the very life- 
blood of the cause, that represented to them — opportunity! And, 
whatever has been said of speculators at Richmond, they were far 
less culpable than these, their chiefs; for, without the arch-priests 
of greed, speculation would have died from inanition. The specula- 
tors were most hungry kites ; but their maws were crammed by the 
great vultures that sat at the coast, blinking ever out over the sea for 
fresh gains ; with never a backward glance at the gaunt, grim legions 
behind them — naked — worn — famished, but unconquered still ! 

Transportation needs have been noted, also. No department was 
worse neglected and mismanaged than that. The existence of the 
Virginia army wholly depended on a single line, close to the coast 
and easily tapped. Nor did Government's seizure of its control, in 
any manner remedy the evil. Often and again, the troops around 
Richmond were without beef — once for twelve days at a time; they 
were often without flour, molasses or salt, living for days upon corn- 
meal alone ! and the ever-ready excuse was want of transportation ! 

Thousands of bushels of grain would ferment and rot at one sta- 
tion ; hundreds of barrels of meat stacked at another, while the army 
starved because of "no transportation ! " But who recalls the arrival 
of a blockader at Charleston, Savannah, or Wilmington, when its vent- 
ures were not exposed at the auctions of Richmond, in time un- 
reasonably short ! 

These facts are not recalled in carping spirit ; nor to pronounce 
judgment just where the blame for gross mismanagement, or favorit- 
ism, should lie. They are recorded because they are historic truth; 
because the people, whom they oppressed and ruined — saw, felt and 
angrily proclaimed them so ; because the blockade mismanagement 
was twin-destroyer with the finance, of the southern cause. 



282 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

The once fair cities of Charleston, Savannah and Wilmington 
suffered most from the blockade, both in destruction of property and 
demoralization of their populations. The first — as * * hot-bed of trea- 
son " and equally from strategic importance — was early a point of 
Federal desire ; but the fleet had been compelled to stand idly by 
and witness the bloodless reduction of Sumter. Later — when strength- 
ened armaments threatened constant attack — Lee and Beauregard 
had used every resource to strengthen defenses of the still open port. 
What success they had, is told by the tedious and persistent bombard- 
ment — perhaps unexampled in the history of gunnery ; surely so in 
devices to injure non-combatant inhabitants. 

On the 30th January, '63, the two slow, clumsy and badly-built 
rams, under Captain Ingraham — of Martin Koszta fame — attacked the 
blockading squadron and drove the Union flag completely from the 
harbor; but re-enforced by iron-clads, it returned on the 7th of April. 
Again, after a fierce battle with the fort, the Federal fleet drew off, 
leaving the "Keokuk" monitor sunk; only to concentrate troops 
and build heavy batteries, for persistent attempt to reduce the de- 
voted city. The history of that stubborn siege and defense, more 
stubborn still; of the woman-shelling "swamp-angel" and the 
* ' Greek-fire ; " of the deeds of prowess that gleamed from the 
crumbling walls of Charleston — all this is too familiar for repetition. 
Yet, ever and again — through wooden mesh of the blockade-net and 
its iron links, alike — slipped a fleet, arrowy little blockader into port. 
And with what result has just been seen ! 

Wilmington — from long and shoal approach to her proper pojt — 
was more difficult still to seal up effectually. There — long after 
every other port was closed — the desperate, but wary, sea-pigeon 
would evade the big and surly watcher on the coast. Light draught, 
narrow, low in the water, swift and painted black — these little steam- 
ers were commanded by men who knew every inch of coast ; who 
knew equally that on them depended life and death — or more. With 
banked fires and scarce-turning wheels, they would drop down the 
Cape Fear, at night, to within a hundred yards of the looming block- 
ade giant. Then, putting on all steam, they would rush by him, 
trusting to speed and surprise to elude pursuit and distract his aim — 
and ho ! for the open sea. 

This was a service of keen excitement and constant danger; 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 2 S3 

demanding clear heads and iron nerves. Both were forthcoming, 
especially from navy volunteers; and many were "the hair-breadth 
'scapes" that made the names of Maffit, Wilkinson and their con- 
freres, household words among the rough sea-dogs of Wilmington. 

Savannah suffered least of the fair Atlantic sisterhood, from the 
blockade. The early capture of her river forts blocked access to her 
wharves, almost effectually; though occasional steamers still slipped 
up to them. Yet, she was in such easy reach of her more open neigh- 
bors, as to reap part of the bad fruits with which they were so over- 
stocked. 

These proud southern cities had ever been famed throughout the 
land, for purity, high tone and unyielding pride. At the first bugle- 
blast, their men had sprung to arms with one accord; and the best 
blood of Georgia and the Carolinas was poured out from Munson's 
Hill to Chickamauga. Their devoted women pinched themselves and 
stripped their homes, to aid the cause so sacred to them; and on the 
burning sand-hills of Charleston harbor, grandsire and grandson 
wrought side by side under blistering sun and galling fire alike ! 

How bitter, then, for those devoted and mourning cities to see 
their sacred places made mere marts ; their cherished fame jeopar- 
died by refuse stay-at-homes, or transient aliens; while vile specula- 
tion — ineffably greedy, when not boldly dishonest — smirched them 
with lowest vices of the lust for gain ! Shot-riddled Charleston — ex- 
posed and devastated — invited nothing beyond the sterner business 
of money-getting. There, was offered neither the leisure nor safety 
for that growth of luxury and riotous living, which at one time 
possessed Wilmington. 

Into that blockade mart would enter four ships to one at any other 
port ; speculators of all grades and greediness flocked to meet them ; 
and money was poured into the once-quiet town by the million. 
And, with tastes restricted elsewhere, these alien crowds reveled in 
foreign delicacies, edibles and liquors, of which every cargo was 
largely made up. The lowest attache of a blockade-runner became 
a ma^ of mark and lived in luxury ; the people caught the infection 
and — where they could not follow — envied the fearful example set by 
the establishments of the "merchant princes." 

Was it strange that the people of leaguered Richmond — that 
the worn hero starving in the trench at Petersburg — came to execrate 



284 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

those vampires fattening on their life-blood ; came to regard the very 
name of blockade-runner as a stench and the government that leagued 
with it as a reproach ? For strangely-colored exaggerations of luxury 
and license were brought away by visitors near the centers of the 
only commerce left. Well might the soul of the soldier — frying his 
scant ration of moldy bacon and grieving over still more scant sup- 
ply at his distant home — wax wroth over stories of Southdown mut- 
ton, brought in ice from England; of dinners where the pates of 
Strasbourg and the fruits of tlie East were washed down with rare 
Champagne. 

Bitter, indeed, it seemed, that — while he crawled, footsore and 
faint, to slake his thirst from the roadside pool — while the dear ones 
at home kept in shivering life with cornbread— degenerate southerners 
and foreign leeches reveled in luxury untold, from the very gain 
that caused such privation ! 

This misuse of that blockade-running — which strongly handled had 
proved such potent agency for good — bred infinite discontent in army 
and in people alike. That misdirection — and its twin, mismanage- 
ment of finance — aided to strangle prematurely the young giant they 
might have nourished into strength ; — 

"And the spirit of murder worked in the very means of life ! " 

But the Chinese-wall blockade was tripartite; not confined to 
closing of the ocean ports. Almost as damaging, in another regard, 
were the occupation of New Orleans, and the final stoppage of com- 
munication with the trans-Mississippi by the capture cf Vicksburg. 

The Heroic City had long been sole point of contact with the vast 
productive tracts, beyond the great river. The story were twice- 
told of a resistance — unequaled even by that at Charleston and be- 
ginning with first Union access to the river, by way of New Orleans. 
But, in May, '62, the combined fleets of Porter and Farragut from 
the South, and Davis from the North, rained shot and shell into the 
coveted town for six terrible weeks. Failing reduction, they with- 
drew on June 24th ; leaving her banners inscribed — Vicksburg victrtx! 

In May of the next year, another concentration was made on the 
"key of the Mississippi;" General Grant marching his army one 
hundred and fifty miles from its base, to get in rear of Vicksburg 
and cut off its relief. The very audacity of this plan may blind the 
careless thinker to its bad generalship ; especially in view of the sue- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 285 

cess that at last crowned its projector's hammer-and-tongs style of 
tactics. His reckless and ill-handled assaults upon the strong works 
at Vicksburg — so freely criticised on his own side, by army and by 
press — were but preface of a volume, so bloodily written to the end 
before Petersburg. 

Under ordinary combinations, Johnston had found it easy to 
crush Grant and prevent even his escape to the distant base behind 
him. But, unhappily. Government would not re-enforce Johnston — 
even to the very limited extent it might ; and Mr. Davis promoted 
Pemberton to a lieutenant-generalcy and sent him to Vicksburg. 
But this is no place to discuss General Pemberton's abilities — his 
alleged disobedience of orders — the disasters of Baker's creek and 
Big Black ; or his shutting up in Vicksburg, hopeless of relief from 
Johnston. Suffice it, the dismal echo of falling Vicksburg supple- 
mented the gloom after Gettysburg; and the swift-following loss of 
Port Hudson completed the blockade of the Mississippi; and made 
the trans-river territory a foreign land ! 

The coast of Maine met the waters of the Ohio, at the mouth of 
the Mississippi ; and two sides of the blockade triangle were com- 
pleted, almost impervious even to rebel ingenuity and audacity. It 
needed but careful guard over the third side — the inland border from 
river to coast — to seal up the South hermetically, and perfect her iso- 
lation. 

That perfection had long been attempted. Fleets of gunboats 
ploughed the Potomac and all inland water-approaches to the south- 
ern frontier. A shrewd detective system, ramifying from Washing- 
ton, penetrated the "disaffected" counties of Maryland; spying 
equally upon shore and household. The borders of Tennessee and 
Kentucky were closely picketed ; and no means of cunning, or perse- 
verance, were omitted to prevent the passage of anything living, or 
useful, into the South. But none of this availed against the untir- 
ing pluck and audacity of the inland blockade-breakers. Daily the 
lines were forced, spies evaded, and bold "Johnny Reb" passed back 
and forth, in almost guaranteed security. 

Such ventures brought small supplies of much-needed medicines, 
surgical instruments and necessaries for the sick. They brought 
northern newspapers — and often despatches and cipher letters of im- 
mense value ; and they ever had tidings from home that made the 



286 Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 

heart of exiled Marylander, or border statesman sing for joy, even 
amid the night-watches of a winter camp. 

Gradually this system of "running the bloc." systematized and 
received governmental sanction. Regular corps of spies, letter-carriers 
and small purchasing agents were organized and recognized by army 
commanders. Naturally, these also made hay while the sun shone ; 
coming back never — whatever their mission — with empty hands. 
Shoes, cloth, even arms — manufactured under the very noses of north- 
ern detectives and, possibly, with their connivance — found ever-ready 
sale. The runners became men of mark — many of them men of 
money \ for, while this branch never demoralized like its big rival on 
the coast, the service of Government was cannily mixed with the serv- 
ice of Mammon. 

Late in the war — when all ports were closed to its communication 
with agents abroad, the Richmond Government perfected this spy 
system, in connection with its signal corjDs. This service gave scope 
for tact, fertility of resource and cool courage ; it gave many a brave 
fellow, familiar with both borders, relief from camp monotony, in the 
fresh dangers through which he won a glimpse of home again ; and it 
gave a vast mass of crude, conflicting information, such as must come 
from rumors collected by men in hiding. But its most singular and 
most romantic aspect was the well-known fact, that many women 
essayed the breaking of the border blockade. Almost all of them 
were successful ; more than one well nigh invaluable, for the informa- 
tion she brought, sewed in her riding-habit, or coiled in her hair. 
Nor were these coarse camp-women, or reckless adventurers. Belle 
Boyd's name became historic as Moll Pitcher ; but others are recalled 
— petted belles in the society of Baltimore, Washington and Virginia 
summer resorts of yore — who rode through night and peril alike, to 
carry tidings of cheer home and bring back news that woman may 
best acquire. New York, Baltimore and Washington to-day boast of 
three beautiful and gifted women, high in their social ranks, who 
could — if they would — recite tales of lonely race and perilous advent- 
ure, to raise the hair of the budding beaux about them. 

But it may be that the real benefits of ''running the bloc." were 
counterbalanced by inseparable evils. The enhancement of prices 
and consequent depreciation of currency may not have felt this 
system appreciably ; but it tempted immigration of the adventurous 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 287 

and vicious classes, while it presented the anomaly of a government 
trading on its enemy's currency to depreciation of its own. For the 
trade demanded greenbacks; and the Confederacy bought these — 
often the product of illicit traffic — from the runners themselves, at 
from twenty to one thousand dollars C. S., for one U. S. ! 

Such is the brief, and necessarily imperfect, glance at the triple 
blockade, which steadily aided the process of exhaustion and ruin at 
the South. Such were its undeniable effects upon the Government 
and the people. And that these, in part at least, might have been 
averted by bold foresight and prompt action — while the blockade was 
yet but paper — is equally undeniable ! 

With this, as with most salient features of that bitter — gallant — 
enduring struggle for life ; with it, as in most mundane retrospects — 
the saddest memories must ever cluster about the "might have 
been!" 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

PRESS, LITERATURE AND ART. 

However much of ability may have been engaged upon it, the press 
of the South — up to the events just preceding the war — had scarcely 
been that great lever which it had elsewhere become. It was rather 
a local machine than a great engine for shaping and manufacturing 
public opinion. 

One main cause for this, perhaps, was the decentralization of the 
South. Tracts of country surrounding it looked up only to their 
chief city, and thence drew their information, and even their ideas 
on the topics of the day. But there it ceased. The principal trade 
of the South went directly to the North ; and in return were received 
northern manufactures, northern books and northern ideas. North- 
ern newspapers came to the South ; and except for matters of local 
information, or local policy, a large class of her readers drew their 
inspiration chiefly from journals of New York — catholic in their 
scope as unreliable in their principles. 

These papers were far ahead of those of the South — except in very 
rare instances— in their machinery for collecting news and gossip; 
for making up a taking whole ; and in the no less important knowl- 
edge of manipulating their circulation and advertising patronage. 
The newspaper system of the North had been reduced to a science. 
Its great object was to pay ; and to accomplish this it must force its 
circulation in numbers and in radius, and must become the medium 
of communicating with far distant points. Great competition — appli- 
cation of // faut Men vivre — drove the drones from the field and only 
the real workers were allowed to live. 

In the South the case was entirely different. Even in the large 
cities, newspapers were content with a local circulation ; they had a lit- 
tle-varying clientele which looked upon them as infallible ; and their 
object was to consider and digest ideas, rather than to propagate, or 
manufacture them. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 2S<; 

The deep and universal interest in questions immediately preced- 
ing the war, somewhat changed in the scope of the southern press. 
People in all sections had intense anxiety to know what others, in 
different sections, felt on vital questions that agitated them ; and 
papers were thus forced, as it were, into becoming the medium for 
interchange of sentiment. 

An examination of the leading journals of the South at this period 
will show that — whatever their mismanagement and want of business 
success — there was no lack of ability in their editorial columns. 
Such organs as the New Orleans Delta, Mobile Advertiser, Charleston 
Mercury and Richmond Examiner and Whig might have taken rank 
alongside of the best-edited papers of the country. Their literary 
ability was, perhaps, greater than that of the North; their discus- 
sions of the questions of the hour were clear, strong and scholarly, 
and possessed, besides, the invaluable quality of honest conviction. 
Unlike the press of the North, the southern journals were not hamp- 
ered by any business interests ; they were unbiased, unbought and 
free to say what they thought and felt. And say it they did, in the 
boldest and plainest of language. 

Nowhere on the globe was the freedom of the press more thor- 
oughly vindicated than in the Southern States of America. And 
during the whole course of the war, criticisms of men and measures 
were constant and outspoken. So much so, indeed, that in many 
instances the operations of the Government were embarrassed, or the 
action of a department commander seriously hampered, by hostile 
criticism in a paper. In naval operations, and the workings of the 
Conscript Law, especially was this freedom felt to be injurious ; and 
though it sprang from the perfectly pure motive of doing the best for 
the cause — though the smallest southern journal, printed on straw 
paper and with worn-out type, was above purchase, or hush money — 
still it might have been better at times had gag-law been applied. 

For, with a large proportion of the population of different sections 
gathered -in huge army communities, their different newspapers 
reached the camps and were eagerly devoured. Violent and hostile 
criticisms of Government — even expositions of glaring abuses — were 
worse than useless unless they could be remedied 3 and when thesc 
came to be the text of camp-talk, they naturally made the soldiers 
think somewhat as they did. 

19 



290 Fo2ir Years m Rebel Capitals. 

Now, the greatest difficulty with that variously-constituted aruiy, 
■was to make its individuals the perfect machines — unthinking, un- 
reasoning, only obeying — to which the perfect soldier must be re- 
duced. "Johnny Reb " would think ; and not infrequently, he would 
talk. The newspapers gave him aid and comfort in both breaches of 
discipline ; and in some instances, their influence against the conscrip- 
tion and impressments was seriously felt in the interior. Still these 
hostilities had their origin in honest conviction ; and abuses were 
held up to the light, that the Government might be made to see and 
correct them. 

The newspapers but reflected the ideas of some of the clearest 
thinkers in the land ; and they recorded the real and true history of 
public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the 
only really correct and indicative "map of busy life, its fluctuations 
and its vast concerns " in the South, during her days of darkness 
and of trial. 

These papers held their own bravely for a time, and fought hard 
against scarcity of labor, material and patronage — against the depre- 
ciation of currency and their innumerable other difficulties. Little by 
little their numbers decreased ; then only the principal dailies of the 
cities were left, and these began to print upon straw paper, wall pa- 
pering — on any material that could be procured. Cramped in means, 
curtailed in size, and dingy in appearance, their publishers still strug- 
gled bravely on for the freedom of the press and the freedom of the 
South. 

Periodical literature — as the vast flood of illustrated and unillus- 
trated monthlies and weeklies that swept over the North was misnamed 
—was unknown in the South. She had but few weeklies ; and these 
were sturdy and heavy country papers — relating more to farming than 
to national matters. Else they were the weekly editions of the city 
papers, intended for country consumption. Few monthly magazines — 
save educational, religious, or statistical ventures, intended for certain 
limited classes, were ever born in the South ; and most of those few 
lived weakly and not long. 

De Bow's Review, the Southern Quarterly, and the Literary Messen- 
ger, were the most noteworthy exceptions. The business interests of 
the larger towns supported the first — which, indeed, drew part of its 
patronage from the North. Neither its great ability nor the taste of its 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 291 

clientele availed to sustain the second ; and the Messe?iger — long the 
chosen medium of southern writers of all ages, sexes and conditions — 
dragged on a wearisome existence, with one foot in the grave for 
many years, only to perish miserably of starvation during the war. 

But any regular and systematized periodical literature the South 
never had. The principal reason doubtless is, that she had not the 
numerous class of readers for amusement, who demand such food in 
the North; and of the not insignificant class who did indulge in it, 
nine-tenths — for one reason, or another, preferred northern periodicals. 
This is not altogether unnatural, when we reflect that these latter 
were generally better managed and superior in interest — if not in tone 
— to anything the South had yet attempted. They were gotten up 
with all the appliances of mechanical perfection ; were managed with 
business tact, and forced and puffed into such circulation as made 
the heavy outlay for first-class writers in the end remunerative. 

On the contrary, every magazine attempted in the South up to 
that time had been born with the seeds of dissolution already in it. 
Voluntary contributions — fatal poison to any literary enterprise — had 
been their universal basis. There was ever a crowd of men and 
women among southern populations, who would write anywhere 
and anything for the sake of seeing themselves in print. And while 
there were many able and accomplished writers available, they were 
driven off by these Free-Companions of the quill — preferring not to 
write in such company ; or, if forced to do it, to send their often 
anonymous contributions to northern journals. These two reasons — 
especially the last — availed to kill the few literary ventures attempted 
by more enterprising southern publishers. The first of these two in 
a great measure influenced the scarcity of book-producers, among a 
people who had really very few readers among them ; and even had 
the number of these been larger, it seems essential to the increase of 
authors that.there should be the constant friction of contact in float- 
ing literature. 

Good magazines are the nurseries and forcing houses for authors ; 
and almost every name of prominence in modern literature may be 
traced back along its course, as that of magazinist, or reviewer. 

The South — whether these reasons for it be just or not, the fact is 
patent — had had but few writers of prominence ; and in fiction es- 
pecially the names that were known could be numbered on one's fin- 



292 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

gers. W. Gilmore Simms was at once the father of southern litera- 
ture and its most proUfic exemplar. His numerous novels have been 
very generally read ; and, if not placing him in the highest ranks of 
writers of fiction, at least vindicate the claims of his section to force 
and originality. He had been followed up the thorny path by many 
who stopped half-way, turned back, or sunk forgotten even before 
reaching that far. 

Few, indeed, of their works ever went beyond their own bound- 
aries; and those few rarely sent back a record. Exceptions there 
were, however, who pressed Mr. Simms hard for his position on the 
topmost peak ; and most of these adventurous climbers were of the 
softer sex. 

John Esten Cooke had written a very clever novel of the olden 
society,, called "Virginia Comedians." It had promised a brilliant 
future, when his style and method should both ripen ; a promise that 
had not, so far, been kept by two or three succeeding ventures 
launched on these doubtful waters. Hon. Jere Clemens, of Alabama, 
had commenced a series of strong, if somev/hat convulsive, stories of 
western character. " Mustang Gray" and " Bernard Lile," scenting 
strongly of camp-fire and pine-top, yet had many advantages over 
the majority of successful novels, then engineered by northern 
publishers. Marion Harland, as her mm de plume went, was, how- 
ever, the most popular of southern writers. Her stories of Virginia 
home-life had litde pretension to the higher flights of romance ; but 
they were pure, graphic and not unnatural scenes from every-day 
life. They introduced us to persons we knew, or might have known; 
and the people read them generally and liked them. Mrs. Ritchie 
(Anna Cora Mowatt) was also prolific of novels, extracted principally 
from her fund of stage experience. Piquant and bright, with a 
dash of humor and more than a dash of sentiment, Mrs. Ritchie's 
books had many admirers and more friends. The South-west, too, 
had given us the " Household of Bouverie " and " Beulah; " and it 
was reserved for Miss Augusta Evans, author of the latter, to furnish 
the only novel — almost the only book — published within the South 
during continuance of the w^ar. The only others I can now recall — 
emanating from southern pens and entirely made in the South — were 
Mrs. A. de V. Chaudron's translation of Miilbach's " Joseph II.," and 
Dr. Wm. Sheppardson's collection of "War Poetry of the South." 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 293 

This is not an imposing array of prose writers, and it may be in- 
complete ; but it is very certain that there are not many omissions. 

In poetry, the warmer cHme of the South would naturally have 
been expected to excel; but, while the list of rhymsters was longer 
than Leporello's, the poets hardly exceeded in number the writers of 
prose. Thompson, Meek, Simms, Hayne, Timrod and McCord were 
the few names that had gone over the border. Up to that time, 
. however, the South had never produced any great poem, that was to 
stand are perennius. But that there was a vast amount of latent poetry 
in our people was first developed by the terrible friction of war. 

In the dead-winter watches of the camp, in the stricken homes of 
the widow and the childless, and in the very prison pens, where they 
were crushed under outrage and contumely — the souls of the south- 
rons rose in song. 

The varied and stirring acts of that terrible drama — its trying 
suspense and harrowing shocks — its constant strain and privations 
must have graven deep upon southern hearts a picture of that time ; 
and there it will stand forever, distinct — indelible — etched by the 
mordant of sorrow ! 

Where does history show more stirring motives for poetry ? Every 
rood of earth, moistened and hallowed with sacred blood, sings to-day 
a noble dirge, wordless, but how eloquent ! No whitewashed ward in 
yonder hospital, but has written in letters of life its epic of heroism, 
of devotion, and of triumphant sacrifice ! 

Every breeze that swept from those ravished homes, whence peace 
and purity had fled before the sword, the torch and that far blacker — 
nameless horror ! — each breeze bore upon its wing a pleading prayer 
for peace, mingled and drowned in the hoarse notes of a stirring cry 
to arms ! 

But not only did our people feel all this. They spoke it with 
universal voice — in glowing, burning words that will live so long as 
strength and tenderness and truth shall hold their own in literature. 

For reasons thus roughly sketched, no great and connected effort 
had been made at the South before the war. Though there had 
been sudden and fitful flashes of rare warmth and promise, they had 
died before their fire was communicated. That the fire v/as there, 
latent and still, they bore witness ; but it needed the rough and cruel 
friction of the war to brinar it to the surface. 



294 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

What the southron felt he spoke ; and out of the bitterness of his; 
trial the poetry of the South was born. It leaped at one bound from 
the overcharged brain of our people — full statured in its stern defiance 
mailed in the triple panoply of truth. 

There was endless poetry written in the North on the war ; and 
much of it came from the pens of men as eminent as Longfellow, 
Bryant, Whittier and Holmes. But they wrote far away from the 
scenes they spoke of — comfortably housed and perfectly secure. The 
men of the North wrote with their pens, while the men of the South 
wrote with their hearts ! 

A singular commentary upon this has been given us by Mr. Rich- 
ard Grant White — himself a member of the committee. In April, 
1861, a committee of thirteen New Yorkers — comprising such names 
as Julian Verplanck, Moses Grinnell, John A. Dix and Geo. Wm. 
Curtis — offered a reward of five hundred dollars for a National 
Hymn ! What hope, feeling, patriotism and love of the cause had 
failed to produce — for the lineal descendants of the " Star Spangled 
Banner " were all in the South, fighting under the bars instead of 
the stripes — was to be drawn out by the application of a greenback 
poultice! The committee advertised generally for five hundred dol- 
lars' worth of pure patriotism, to be ground out " in not less than six- 
teen lines, nor more than forty." 

Even with this highest incentive, ISIr. White tells us that dozens of 
barrelfuls of manuscript were rejected ; and not one patriot was found 
whose principles — as expressed in his poetry — were worth that much 
money ! Were it not the least bit saddening, the contemplation of 
this attempt to buy up fervid sentiment would be inexpressibly funny. 

Memory must bring up, in contrast, that night of 1792 in Stras- 
bourg, when the gray dawn, struggHng v/ith the night, fell upon the 
pale face and burning eyes of Rouget de Lisle — as with trembling 
hand he wrote the last words of the Marseillaise. The mind must re- 
vert, in contrast, to those ravished hearths and stricken homes and 
decimated camps, where the South wrought and suffered and sang — 
sang words that rose from men's hearts, when the ore of genius fused 
and sparkled in the hot blast of their fervid patriotism ! 

Every poem of the South is a National Hymn ! — bought not with 
dollars, but with five hundred wrongs and len times five hundred 
precious lives ! 



Four Years iti Rebel Capitals. 295 

To one who has not studied the subject, the vast number of south- 
ern war poems would be most surprising, in view of restricted means 
for their issue. Every magazine, album and newspaper in the South 
ran over with these effusions and swelled their number to an almost 
countless one. Many of them were written for a special time, event,, 
or locality; many again were read and forgotten in the engrossing 
duties of the hour. But it was principally from the want of some 
systematized means of distribution that most of them were born to- 
blush unseen. 

Before my little collection — " South Songs, from the Lays of Later- 
Days" — went to press, over nineteen hundred poems had accumu- 
lated on my hands ! And since that time the number has greatly in- 
creased. There were battle odes, hymns, calls to arms, paans and 
dirges and prayers for peace — many of them good, few of them 
great; and the vast majority, alas! wretchedly poor. Any attempted 
notice of their authors in limits like this would be sheer failure; and 
where many did so well, it were invidious to discriminate. The names 
of John R. Thompson, James Randall, Henry Timrod, Paul Hayne, 
Barron Hope, Margaret Preston, James Overall, Harry Lyndon Flash 
and Frank Ticknor had already become household words in the 
South, where they will live forever. 

Wherever his people read anything, the classic finish of his 
"Latane," the sweet caress of his "Stuart" and the bugle-blast of his 
''Coercion" and "Word with the West," had assured John R., 
Thompson's fame. The liltful refrain of " Maryland, my Maryland" 
echoed from the Potomac to the Gulf; and the clarion-call James R. 
Randall so nobly used — "There's Life in the Old Land Yet!" — 
warmed every southern heart, by the dead ashes on its hearth. Who- 
does not remember " Beechenbrook," that pure Vestal in the temple 
of Mars? Every tear of sympathy that fell upon its pages was a 
jewel above rubies, in the crown of its gentle author. 

Paul Hayne had won already the hearts of his own readers ; and' 
had gained transatlantic meed, in Tennyson's declaration that he- 
was " the sonneteer of America ! " And the yearning sorrow in all^ 
eyes that looked upon the fresh mound, above what was mortal of 
tender Henry Timrod, was more eloquent of worth than costly monu- 
ument, or labored epitaph. 

But not only the clang of action and the freedom of stirrina: 



296 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

scenes produced the southern war-poems. Camp Chase and forts 
"Warren and Lafayette contributed as glowing strains as any written. 
Those grim bastiles held the bodies of their unconquered inmates; 
while their hearts lived but in the memory of those scenes, in which 
their fettered hands were debarred further portion. Worn down by 
confinement, hunger and the ceaseless pressure of suspense; weak- 
ened by sickness and often oppressed by vulgar indignity — the spirit 
of their cause still lingered lovingly around them ; and its bright 
gleams warmed and lighted the darkest recesses of their cells. 

That bugle blast, " Awake and to horse, my brothers ! " ,Teackle 
"VVallis sent from the walls of "Warren, when he was almost prostrated 
by sickness and mental suffering. Another poem, more mournful 
but with a beautiful thought of hope beyond, comes from that dismal 
prison-pen. Camp Chase. Colonel W. S. Hawkins, a brave Ten- 
nesseean, who was held there two long years, still kept up heart and 
ministered to his fellow-sufferers day and night. The close of the war 
alone released him, to drag his shattered frame to "his own, fair 
sunny land," and lay it in the soil he loved so well. But he has left 
a living monument; and the tender pathos of " The Hero without a 
Name" — and the flawless poetical gem that closes his "Last of 
Earth," will be remembered as long as the sacrifices of their noble 
author. The pent walls of other military prisons sent forth plaintive 
records of misery, as well as stirring strains of hope unconquered; 
but the two here named are easily first of the rebel-prisoner poets. 

Dirges for the great dead became a popular form, in which the 
spirit of southern song poured itself out. I had in my collection no 
fewer than forty-seven monodies and dirges on Stonewall Jackson ; 
some dozens on Ashby and a score on Stuart. Some of these were 
critically good; all of them high in sentiment ; but Flash's "Jackson" 
— heretofore quoted, when noting that irremediable loss — stands in- 
comparably above the rest. Short, vigorous, completely rounded — it 
breathes that high spirit of hope and trust, held by that warrior 
people ; and, not alone the finest war dirge of the South, it is excelled 
by no sixteen lines in any language, for power, lilt and tenderness ! 

Perhaps Thompson's "Dirge for Ashby," Randall's song of 
triumph over dead John Pelham and Mrs. Margaret Preston's 
"Ashby," may rank side-b}'-side next to the "Jackson." The modest 
author of the last-named did not claim it, until the universal voice 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 297 

of her people called for her name ; and it is noteworthy that large 
numbers of war-song writers hid from their just meed, behind the 
sheltering anonymous. And the universal characteristic of this 
dirge-poetry is not its mournful tenderness — while nothing could be 
more touching than that ; but its strong expression of faith in the 
efficacy of the sacrifice and in the full atonement of the martyrdom ! 

The battle-breeze bore back to the writers no sound of weak 
wailing. It wafted only the sob of manly grief, tempered by a sol- 
emn joyousness ; and — coming from men of many temperaments, 
amid wide-differing scenes and circumstance — every monody bears 
impress of the higher inspiration, that has its origin far beyond the 
realm of the narrow house ! 

Sacred to one and all — in the Dixie of yesterday, in the southern 
half of the cemented Union of to-day — is the memory of that past. 
Sweet and bitter commingled, as it is, we clasp it to our heart of 
hearts and know — that were it bitterer a thousand fold — it is ours 
stili ! So I may not leave the field of southern song, unnoting its 
noblest strain — its funeral hymn ! Father Ryan's '' Conquered Ban- 
ner " is so complete in fulfillment of its mission, that we can not 
spare one word, while yet no word is wanting ! Every syllable 
there finds it echo far down in every southern heart. Every syl- 
lable has added significance, as coming from a man of peace ; — a 
priest of that church which ever held forth free and gentle hand to 
aid the cause of struggling freedom ! 

In hottest flashings of the fight; in toilsome marches of winter; 
in fearful famine of the trenches — the Catholic soldiers of the Con- 
federacy ever acted. the motto of the Douglas; their deeds ever said 
— "Ready! aye, ready!" 

And, in fetid wards of fever hospital; in field-tents, where the 
busy knife shears through quivering flesh ; on battle-ground, where 
shattered manhood lies mangled almost past semblance of itself; at 
hurried burial, where gory blanket, or rough board, makes final rest 
for some "Hero without a name; " — there ever, and ever tender and 
tireless, the priest of Ronie works on his labor of love and consola- 
tion ! And the gentlest daughter of the eldest church was there as 
well. All southern soldiers were brothers, in her eyes ; cliildren of 
the One Father. And that noble band of Sisters of Mercy — to which 
our every woman belonged ; giving light and hope to the hospital, 



298 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

life itself to the cause— that band knew no confines of ministry — no 
barriers of faith, which made charity aught but one common heritage ! 

Over the border, too ; in struggHng Maryland, in leaguered Mis- 
souri, and far into the North, the Catholic clergy were friends of the 
southern cause. They ceased never openly to defend its justice; 
quietly to aid its sympathizers. They helped the self-exiled soldier 
to bear unaccustomed hardships, on the one side; carried to his lonely 
mother, on tlie other, tidings of his safety, or his glory, that "caused 
the heart of the widow to sing for joy ! " 

Fitting, then, it was that a father of that church should chant 
tlie requiem for the dead cause, he had loved and labored for while 
living; that Father Ryan should bless and bury its conquered banner, 
when the bitter day came that saw it "furled forever." 

But is that proud flag — with the glory and the pride wrought into 
its folds, by suffering, honor and endurance unexcelled — really "furled 
forever.?" The dust of centuries may sift upon it, but the moth and 
the mold may harm it not. Ages it may lie, furled and unnoted; 
but in her own good time, historic Justice shall yet unfold and throw 
it to the breeze of immortality ; pointing to each glorious rent and 
to each holy drop that stains it ! 

The war-poetry of the South has been dwelt upon, perhaps, at too 
great length. But it was, in real truth, the literature of the South. 
To sum it up may be repeated, after a lapse of twenty-five years — 
that sentence from the preface to my "South Songs," which raised 
such ire among irreconcilables of the southern press : — " In prose of 
all kinds, the South stood still, during the war; perhaps retrograded- 
But her best aspiration, ' lisped in numbers, for the numbers camel' " 

Even then her poetry proved that there was life — high, brave life 
— in the old land yet ; even then it gave earnest that, when the bitter 
struggle for bread gave time for thought, reason and retrospect, 
southern literature would rise, in the might of a young giant, and 
shake herself wholly free from northern domination and convention. 

In art and her twin sister, music, the South displayed taste and 
progress truly remarkable in view of the absorbing nature of her du- 
ties. Like all inhabitants of semi-tropic climes, there had ever been 
shown by her people natural love and aptitude for melody. While 
this natural taste was wholly uncultivated — venting largely in planta- 
tion songs of the negroes — in districts where the music-master was 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 29^ 

necessarily abroad, it had reached high development in several of 
the large cities. Few of these were large enough, or wealthy enough, 
to support good operas, which the wealth of the North frequently 
lured to itself; but it may be recalled that New Orleans was genu- 
inely enjoying opera, as a necessary of life, long before New York 
deemed it essential to study bad translations of librettos, in warmly- 
packed congregations of thousands. 

Mobile, Charleston, Savannah and other cities also had consider- 
able latent music among their amateurs ; happily not then brought 
to the surface by the fierce friction of poverty. And what was the 
musical talent of the Capital, has elsewhere been hinted. When 
the tireless daughters of Richmond had worked in every other v/ay, 
for the soldiers themselves, they organized a system of concerts and 
dramatic evenings for benefit of their families. At these were shown 
evidences of individual excellence, truly remarkable; while their 
average displayed taste and finish, which skilled critics declared 
would compare favorably with any city in the country. 

The bands of the southern army — so long as they remained exist- 
ent as separate organizations — were indisputably mediocre, when not 
atrociously bad. But it must be recalled that there was little time to 
practice, even in the beginning; literally no chance to obtain new 
music, or instruments; and that the better class of men — who usually 
make the best musicians — always preferred the musket to the bugle. 
Nor was there either incentive to good music, or appreciation for it, 
among the masses of the fighters. The drum and fife were the best 
they had known " at musters; " and they were good enough still, to 
fight by. So, recalling the prowess achieved constantly, in following 
them, it may be wondered what possible results might have come 
from inspiration of a marine band, a Grafulla, or a Gilmore ! 

Likewise, in all art matters, the South was at least a decade be- 
hind her northern sisterhood. Climate, picturesque surrounding and 
natural warmth of character had awakened artistic sense, in many 
localities. But its development was scarcely appreciable, from lack 
of opportunity and of exemplar. The majority of southern girls were 
reared at their own homes ; and art culture — beyond mild atrocities 
in crayon or water-color, or terrors bred of the nimble broiderer's 
needle — was a myth, indeed. A large number of young men — a ma- 
jority, perhaps, of those who could afford it — received education at the 



300 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

North. Such of these as displayed peculiar aptitude for painting, 
were usually sent abroad for perfecting; and returning, they almost 
invariably settled in northern cities, where were found both superior 
opportunities and larger and better-paying class of patrons. But, 
when the tug came, not a few of these errant youths returned, to 
share it with their native states; and some of them found time, even 
in the stirring days of war, to transfer to canvas some of its most 
suggestive scenes. 

Of them, the majority were naturally about Richmond ; not only 
as the great army center, but as the center of everything else. 
Among the latter were two favorite pupils of Leutze, William D. 
Washington and John A. Elder. Both Virginians, by birth and rear- 
ing, they had the great advantage of Dusseldorf training, while they 
were thoroughly acquainted and sympathetic with their subjects. 
Some of Washington's figure-pieces were very successful ; finding 
ready sale at prices which, had they continued, might have made 
him a Meissonnier in pocket, as well as in local fame. His elaborate 
picture, illustrating the "Burial of Latane " — a subject which also 
afforded motif for Thompson's most classic poem — attracted wide at- 
tention and favorable verdict from good critics. Mr. Washington 
also made many and excellent studies of the bold, picturesque scen- 
ery of his western campaigning, along the Gauley and Kanawha. 

Elder's pictures — while, perhaps, less careful in finish than those 
of his brother student — were nothing inferior as close character- 
studies of soldier-life. Their excellence was ever emphasized by 
prompt sale; and **The Scout's Prize" and the "Raider's Return" 
— both horse and landscape studies ; as well as a ghastly, but most 
effective picture of the "Crater Fight" at Petersburg, made the 
young artist great reputation. 

Washington's "Latane" had post-bellum reproduction, by the. 
graver; becoming popular and widely-known, North and South. The 
three of Elder's pictures, named here, were purchased by a member 
of the British parliament ; but, unfortunately, were destroyed in the 
fire of the Dies irce. The two first were duplicated, after the peace ; 
and they gained praise and successful sale in New York. 

Mr. Guillam, a French student, worked carefully and industri- 
ously, at his Richmond studio ; producing portraits of Lee, Jackson 
and others; which, having exaggerated mannerisms of the French 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 301 

school, still possessed no little merit. A remarkable life-size picture 
of General Lee, which produced much comment in Richmond, was 
done by a deaf-mute, Mr. Bruce. It was to have been bought by the 
State of Virginia; possibly from sympathy with the subject and 
the condition of the artist, rather than because of intrinsic merit as an 
art-work. 

But, perhaps, the most strikingly original pictures the war pro- 
duced were those of John R. Key, a Maryland lieutenant of engi- 
neers; one of those decendants of " The Star Spangled Banner," early 
noted in this chapter. Young, ambitious and but little educated in 
art, Mr. Key made up that lack in boldness of subject and treatment. 
His school was largely his own ; and he went for his subjects far out 
of the beaten track, treating them afterward with marked boldness and 
dash. 

*' Drewry's Bluff" was a boldly-handled sketch of what the north- 
ern army persisted in calling **Fort Darling." It showed the same 
venturesome originality in color-use, the same breadth and fidelity that 
marked Mr. Key's later pictures of Sumter, Charleston harbor and 
scenes on the James river. 

These pictures named in common, with minor sketches from pen- 
cils less knov/n at that time — among them that of William L. Shep- 
pard, now famous as graphic delineator of southern scenes — illustrate 
both the details of the unique war, and the taste and heart of those 
who made it. Amid battles, sieges and sorrows, the mimic world be- 
hind the Chinese wall revolved on axis of its own. War was the busi- 
ness of life to every man ; but, in the short pauses of its active strife, 
were shown both the taste and talent for the prettiest pursuits of peace. 
And the apparently unsurmountable difficulties, through which these 
were essayed, makes their even partial development more remarkable 
still. 

The press, the literature and the art of the Southern Confeder- 
acy — looked at in the light of her valor and endurance, shining from 
her hundred battle-fields — emphasize strongly the inborn nature of 
her people. And, while there were many whom the limits of this 
sketch leave unnamed, that sin of omission will not be registered 
against the author ; for the men of the South — even in minor matters 
— did their work for the object and for the cause ; not for self-illus- 
tration. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



WIT AND HUMOR OF THE WAR. 



If it be true that Sir Philip Sidney, burning with fever of his 
death-wound, reproved the soldier who brought him water in his 
helmet, that "he wasted a casque-full on a dying man," then humor 
borrowed largely of heroism. 

Many a ragged rebel — worn with hunger and anxiety for the cause, 
or for those absent loved ones who suftered for it — was as gallant 
as Sidney in the fray ; many a one bore his bitter trial with the same 
gay heart. 

We have seen that the southron, war-worn, starving, could pour 
out his soul in noble song. Equally plain is it, that he rose in defi- 
ant glee over his own sufferings ; striving to drown the sigh in a 
peal of resonant laughter. For humorous poetry abounds among all 
southern war-collections ; some of it polished and keen in its satire ; 
most of it striking hard and " straight-from-the-shoulder " blows at 
some detected error, or some crying abuse. 

One very odd and typical specimen of this was the " Confederate 
Mother Go ose ; " only catch verses of which appeared iiTthe^^^^-SoilTtv 
ern Literary Messenger," when under editorial charge of rare George 
Bagby. It was born of accident; several officers sitting over their 
pipes, around Bagby's editorial pine, scribbled in turn doggerel on 
some war subject. So good were a few of these hits that they aston- 
ished their unambitious authors, by appearance in the next issue of 
the magazine. As a record of war-humor, a few of them may be of 
interest at this late day. This one shows the great terror struck to 
the hearts of his enemies by the war-gong of General Pope : 
" Little Be-Pope, he came at a lope, 
'Jackson, the Rebel,' to find him. 
He found him at last, then ran very fast, 
With his gallant invaders behind him ! " 

" Jackson's commissary" was a favorite butt for the shafts of rebel 
humor. Another " Mother Goose " thus pictures him : 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 303 

"John Pope came down to our town 

And thought him wondrous wise ; 
He jumped into a 'skeeter swamp 

And started writing lies. 
But when he found his lies were out — 

With all his might and main 
He changed his base to another place, 

And began to lie again ! " 

This verse on McClellan does not go to prove that the South re- 
spected any less the humane warfare, or the tactical ability of him 
his greatest opponents declared "the North's best general." 

*' Little McClellan sat eating a melon, 
The Chickahominy by, 
He stuck in his spade, then a long while delayed, 
And cried 'What a brave general am I ! ' " 

Or this, embalming the military cant of the day : 

" Henceforth, when a fellow is kicked out of doors. 
He need never resent the disgrace ; 
But exclaim, ' My dear sir, I'm eternally yours, 
For assisting in changing my base ! '" 

Perhaps no pen, or no brush, in all the South limned with bolder 
stroke the follies, or the foibles, of his own, than did that of Innes 
Randolph, of Stuart's Engineer staff; later to win national fame by 
his ** Good Old Rebel " song. Squib, picture and poem filled Ran- 
dolph's letters, as brilliant flashes did his conversation. On Mr. 
Davis proclaiming Thanksgiving Day, after the unfortunate Tennessee 
campaign, Randolph versified the proclamation, section by section, 
as sample : 

" For Bragg did well. Ah! who could tell 
What merely human mind could augur. 
That they would run from Lookout Mount, 
Who fought so well at Chickamauga ! " 

Round many a smoky camp-fire were sung clever songs, whose 
humor died with their gallant singers, for want of recording memories 
in those busy days. Latham, Caskie and Page McCarty sent out 
some of the best of the skits; a few verses of one by the latter's 
floating to mind, from the snowbound camp on the Potomac, 
stamped by his vein of rollicking satire-with-a-tear in it : 



304 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

" Manassas' field ran red with gore, 
With blood the Bull Run ran ; 
The freeman struck for hearth and home, 

Or any other man ! 
And Longstreet with his fierce brigade 
Stood in the red redan ; 
He waved his saber o'er his head, 

Or any other man ! 
Ah ! few shall part where many meet, 
In battle's bloody van ; 
The snow shall be their winding-sheet, 

Or any other man ! " 

Naturally enough, with a people whose nerves were kept at 
abnormal tension, reaction carried the humor of the South largely 
into travesty. Where the reality was ever somber, creation of the 
unreal found popular and acceptable form in satiric verse. ]\Iajor 
Caskie — who ever went into battle with a smile on his lips — found 
time, between fights, for broad pasquinade on folly about him, with 
pen and pencil. His very clever parody of a touching and well- 
known poem of the time, found its way to many a camp-fire and 
became a classic about the Richmond "hells." It began: 

"You can never win them back. 

Never, never ! 
And you'd better leave the track 

Now forever ! 
Tho' you ' cut ' and ' deal the pack ' 
And ' copper ' every Jack, 
Yr I'll lose ' stack ' after ' stack ' — 

Forever ! " 

Everything tending to bathos — whether for the cause, or against it 
— caught its quick rebuke, at the hands of some glib funmaker. 
Once an enthusiastic admirer of the hero of Charleston indited 
a glowing ode, of which the refrain ran : 

Beau sabrettr, beau canon. 
Beau soldat — Beauregard ! 

Promptly came another, and most distorted version ; its peculiar 
refrain enfolding : 

Beau Brummel, Beau Fielding, 
Beau Hickman — Beauregard! 

As it is not of record that the commander of the Army of 



Four Years hi Redd Capitals. 305 

Northern Virginia ever discovered the junior laureate, the writer 
will not essay to do so. 

Colonel Tom August, of the First Virginia, was the Charles Lamb 
of Confederate war-wits; genial, quick and ever gay. Early in se- 
cession days, a bombastic friend approached Colonel Tom, with the 
query: " Well, sir, I presume your voice is still for war ?" 

To which the wit replied promptly: "Oh, yes, devihsh still!" 

Later, when the skies looked darkest and rumors of abandoning 
Richmond were wildly flying, Colonel August was limping up the 
street. A quidniaic hailed him : 

"Well ! The city is to be given up. They're moving the medi- 
cal stores." 

"Glad of it!" called back Colonel Tom— "We'll get rid of all 
this blue mass!" 

From the various army camps floated out stories, epigrams and 
anecdotes unnumbered ; most of them wholly forgotten, with only a 
few remembered from local color, or peculiar point. General Zeb 
Vance's apostrophe to the buck-rabbit, flying by him from heavy rifle 
fire: "Go it, cotton-tail! If I hadn't a reputation, I'd be with 
you ! " — was a favorite theme for variations. Similarly modified to | 
fit, was the protest of the western recruit, ordered on picket at Mun- | 
son's Hill: ) 

" Go yander ter keep 'un off"! Wy, we'uns kem hyah ter fight th' j 
Yanks; an' ef you'uns skeer 'un off, how'n thunder ezthargoan ter be / 
a scrimmidge, no how ?" 

A different story — showing quick resource, wnere resources were 
lacking — is told of gallant Theodore O'Hara, who left the noblest 
poem of almost any war, " The Bivouac of the Dead." While he was 
adjutant-general, a country couple sidled shyly up to headquarters of 
his division, one day; the lady blushingly stating their business. It 
was the most important one of life : they wanted to marry. So, a 
council of war was held, no chaplain being available ; and the gen- 
eral insisted on O'Hara tying the knot. Finally, he consented to try; 
the couple stood before him ; the responses as to obedience and en- 
dowment were made ; and there O'Hara stuck fast ! 

" Go on ! " prompted the general — " The benediction." 

The A. A. G. paused, stammered; then, raising his hand grandly, 
shouted in stentorian tones : 



3o6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

" In the name and by the authority of the Confederate States of 
North America, I proclaim you man and wife ! " 

A grim joke is handed down from the winter camps before Atlanta, 
when rations were not only worst but least. A knot round a mess- 
fire examined ruefully the tiny bits of moldy bacon, stuck on their 
bayonet-grills, when one hard old veteran remarked : 

" Say, boys ! Didn't them fellers wot died las' spring jest git th' 
commissary, though ! " 

Another, not very nice, still points equally the dire straits of tlie 
men, from unchanged clothing, and their grim humor under even 
that trial. Generals Lee and Ewell — riding through a quiet road in 
deep consultation, followed by mem.bers of their staff — came sud- 
denly upon a North Carolinian at the roadside. Nude to the waist, 
and careless of the august presences near, the soldier paid attention 
only to the dingy shirt he held over the smoke of some smoldering 
brush. The generals past, an aide spurred up to the toilet-making 
vet, and queried sharply : 

" Didn't you see the generals, sir? What in thunder are you doing ?" 

" Skirmishin' ! " draAvled the unmoved warrior — "An' I ent takin' 
no pris'ners, nuther ! " 

After this lapse of time — when retrospect shows but the gloom 
and sorrow which shadowed the dark "days of storm and stress," 
while none of the excitement and tension in them, remains — it may 
seem incomprehensible that the South could laugh in song, while she 
suffered and fought and starved. Stranger still must it be to know that 
many a merry peal rang through the barred window^s of the fortress- 
prisons of the North. Yet, many a one of the exchanged captives 
brought back a rollicking "prison glee;" and some sing, even to-day, 
the legend of "Fort Delaware, Del." 

The "Prison Wails "of Thomas F. Roche, a Marylander long 
captive, is a close and clever parody on General Lytell's " I am dying, 
Egypt," which came through the lines and won warm admirers 
South. It describes prison discipline, diet and dirt, with keen point 
and broad grin. From its opening lines: 

*• I am busted, mother — busted! 
Gone th' last unhappy check ; 
And th' infernal sutlers' prices 

Make my pocket-book a wreck ! — " 

to the human, piteous plaint that ends it : 



Fozcr Years in Rcbei Capitals. 307 

"Ah; Once more, among the lucky, 
Let thy hopeful buy and swell ; 
Bankers and rich brokers aid thee ! 

Shell ! sweet mother mine, Oh! shell ! — " 

the original is closely followed and equally distorted. 

But strangest, amid all strange humors of the war, was that which 
echoed laughter over the leaguered walls of scarred, starving, desperate 
Vicksburg ! No siege in all history tells of greater peril and suffering, 
borne with wondrous endurance and heroism, by men and women. 
It is a story of privation unparalleled, met by fortitude and calm 
acceptance which recall the early martyrdoms for faith ! And, indeed, 
love of country grew to be a religion, especially with the women of 
the South, though happily none proved it by stress so dire as those of 
her heroic city; and they cherished it in the darkest midnight of 
their cause, with constancy and hope that nerved the strong and 
shamed the laggard. 

That history is one long series of perils and privations — of abso- 
lute isolation — sufficient to have worn down the strongest and to have 
quenched even 

The smile of the South, on the lips and the eyes — 
Of her barefooted boys! 

Yet, even in Vicksbtirg — torn by shot and shell, hopeless of relief 
from without, reduced to direst straits of hunger within — the su- 
preme rebel humor rose above nature ; and men toiled and starved, 
fought their hopeless fight and died — not with the stoicism of the 
fatalist, but with the cheerfulness of duty well performed ! And 
when Vicksburg fell, a curious proof of this was found ; a manuscript 
bill-cf-fare, surmounted by rough sketch of a mule's head crossed by 
a human hand holding a Bowie-knife. That memorable menu reads : 

HOTEL DE VICKSBURG, BILL OF FARE, FOR JULY, 1 863. 

Soup : Mule tail. 

Boiled: Mule bacon, with poke greens; muleham, canvassed. 
Roast : Mule sirloin ; mule rump, stuffed with rice ; saddle- 
of-mule, a Varmee. 

Vegetables : Boiled rice ; rice, hard boiled ; hard rice, any 
way. 

Entrees : Mule head, stuffed a la Reb; mule beef, jerked a la 



\ 



3o8 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Yankie ; mule ears, fricasseed d la geUli; mule side, stewed — new 
style, hair on ; mule liver, hashed d i'exploston. 

Side Dishes: Mule salad; mule hoof, soused; mule brains d 
Fomelette ; mule kidneys, braises on ramrod ; mule tripe, on half 
(Parrot) shell ; mule tongue, cold, d la Bray. 

Jellies : Mule foot (3-to-yard) ; mule bone, d la trench. 
1 Pastry : Rice pudding, pokeberry sauce ; cottonwood-berry 

pie, d la iron-clad ; chinaberry tart. 

Dessert: White-oak acorns ; beech-nuts; blackberry-leaf tea; 
genuine Confederate coffee. 

Liquors : Mississippi water, vintage 1492, very superior, $3 ; • 
limestone water, late importation, very fine, $3-75; spring water, 
Vicksburg bottled up, $4. 

Meals at few hours. Gentlemen to wait upon themselves. Any 
inattention in service should be promptly reported at the office. 

Jeff Davis & Co., Proprietors. 
Card: The proprietors of the justly-celebrated Hotel de 
Vicksburg, having enlarged and refitted the same, are now pre- 
pared to accommodate all who may favor them with a call. Par- 
ties arriving by th» river, or by Grant's inland route, will find 
Grape, Cannister& Co.'s carriages at the landing, or any depot on 
the line of entrenchments. Buck, Ball & Co. take charge of all 
baggage. No effort will be spared to make the visit of all as in- 
teresting as possible. 
This capture was printed in the Chicago Tribune, with the com- 
ment that it was a ghastly and melancholy burlesque. There is 
really a train of melancholy in the reflection that it was so little of a 
burlesque ; that they who could endure such a siege, on such fare, 
should have been compelled to bear their trial in vain. But the 
quick-satisfying reflection must follow of the truth, the heroism — the 

moral invincibility — of a people who could so endure and laugh !' 

But it was not only from the soldiers and the camps that the 
humor of the South took its color. Spite of the strain upon its 
better part — from anxiety, hope-deferred and actual privation — the 
society of every city keeps green memories of brilliant things said and 
written, on the spur of excitement and contact, that kept the sense 
of the whole people keenly alert for any point — whether serious or 
ridiculous. 

The society of the Capital was marked evidence of this. It pre- 
served many epigrammatic gems; often coming from the better — and 
brighter — half of its composition. For Richmond women had long 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 309 

teen noted for society ease and aplomb, as well as for quickness of 
witj and now the social amalgam held stranger dames and maidens 
who might have shown in any salon. 

A friend of the writer — then a gallant staff-officer ; now a gravd, 
sedate and semi-bald counsellor — had lately returned from European ^ 
capitals; and he was, of course, in envied possession of brilliant 
uniform and equipment. At a certain ball, his glittering blind-spurs 
became entangled in the flowing train of a dancing belle — one of the 
most brilliant of the set. She stopped in mid- waltz; touched my 
friend on the broidered chevron with taper fingers, and sweetly said: 

*' Captain, may I trouble you to dismount ?" 

Another noted girl — closely connected with the administration — 
made one of a distinguished party invited by Secretary Mallory to 
inspect a newly-completed iron-clad, lying near the city. It was 
after many reverses had struck the navy, causing — as heretofore 
shown — destruction of similar ships. Every detail of this one ex- 
plained, lunch over and her good fortune drunk, the party were 
descending the steps to the captain's gig, when this belle stopped 
short. 

"Oh! Mr. Secretary!" she smiled innocently — "You forgot *to 
show us one thing !" 

" Indeed ?" was the bland query — " Pray what was it ?" 

To which came the startling rejoinder : 

*' Why your arrangement for blowing them up I" 

There was one handsome and dashing young aide, equally noted 
for influence at division-headquarters, which sent him constantly to 
Richmond ; and for persistent devotion, when there, to a sharp- 
witted belle with a great fortune. One night he appeared at a soiree 
in brand new uniform, his captain's bars replaced by the major's star 
on the collar. The belle, leaning on his arm wearily, was pouting ; 
when another passed and said: "I congratulate you, major. And 
what are your new duties ? " 

The officer hesitated only one instant, but that was fatal ; for the 
lady on his arm softly lisped : * ' Oh ! he is Mrs. General 's com- 
missary, with the rank of major !" 

It is needless to add that the epigram — unjust as it was — had its 
effect ; and the belle was no more besieged. 

But of all the bright coteries in Richmond society — its very area- 



3IO Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

num of wit, brilliance and culture — rises to memory that wholly- 
unique set, that came somehow to be called '*lhe Mosaic Club." 
Organization it was none j only a clique of men and women — mar- 
ried as well as single — that comprised the best intellects and prettiest 
accomplishments of the Capital. Many of the ladies were Will 
Wyatt's "easy goers;" ever tolerant, genial and genuine at the 
sy?nposia of the Mosaics, as they showed behind their chevaux-de- 
frise of knitting-needles elsewhere. Some of them have since 
graced happy and luxurious homes; som.e have struggled with pov- 
erty and sorrow as only true womanhood may struggle ; some have 
fought out the battle of life, sleeping now at rest forever. But one 
and all then faced their duty — sad, bitter, uncongenial as it might be 
— with loyalty and tender truth ; one and all were strong enough to put 
by somber things, when meet to do so, and enjoy to the full the 
better pleasures society might offer. 

And the men one met wore wreaths upon their collars often ; 
quite as likely chevrons of "the men" upon their sleeves. Cabinet 
ministers, poets, statesmen, artists, and clergymen even were admitted 
to the "Mosaics;" the only " Open sesame T^ to which its doors fell 
wide being that patent of nobility stamped by brain and worth alone. 

Without organization, without officers; grown of itself and meeting 
as chance, or winter inactivity along army lines dictated — the Mosaic 
Club had no habitat. Collecting in one hospitable parlor, or another 
— as good fortune happened to provide better material for the 
delighting "muffin-match," or the entrancing "waffle-worry," as 
Will Wyatt described those festal procedures — the intimates who 
chanced in town were bidden ; or, hearing of it, came to the feast of 
waffles and the flow of coffee — real coffee ! without bids. They were 
ever welcome and knew it ; and they were likewise sure of something 
even better than muffins, or coffee, to society-hungry men from the 
camps. And once gathered, the serious business of "teaing" over, 
the fun of the evening began. 

The unwritten rule — indeed, the only rule — was the "forfeit 
essay," a game productive of so much that was novel and brilliant, 
that no later invention of peace-times has equaled it. At each 
meeting two hats would be handed round, all drawing a question 
from the one, a word from the other; question and word to be con- 
nected in either a song, poem, essay, or tale for the next meeting* 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 311 

Then, after the drawing for forfeits, came the results of the last 
lottery of brain ; interspersed with music by the best performers and 
singers of the city; with jest and seriously-brilliant talk, until the wee 
sma' hours, indeed. 

O ! those nights ambrosial, if not of Ambrose's, which dashed the 
somber picture of war round Richmond, with high-lights boldly put 
in by master-hands ! Of them were quaint George Bagby, Virginia's 
pet humorist ; gallant, cultured WiUie Meyers ; original Trav Daniel \ 
Washington, artist, poet and musician ; Page McCarty, recklessly 
brilliant in field and frolic alike; Ham Chamberlayne, quaint, culti- 
vated and colossal in originality; Key, Elder and other artists; 
genial, jovial Jim Pegram ; Harry Stanton, Kentucky's soldier poet — 
and a score of others who won fame, even if some of them lost life 
— on far different fields. There rare "Ran" Tucker — later famed 
in Congress and law school — told inimitably the story of "The time 
the stars fell," or sang the unprecedented ballad of "The Noble 
Skewball," in his own unprecedented fashion! 

It was at the Mosaic that Innes Randolph first sang his now famous 
"Good Old Rebel" song; and there his marvelous quickness was 
Aaron's rod to swallow all the rest. As example, once he drew 
from one hat the words, "Daddy Longlegs ; " from the other, the 
question, "What sort of shoe was made on the Last of the Mohi- 
cans?" Not high wit these, to ordinary seeming; and yet apparent 
posers for sensible rhyme. But they puzzled Randolph not a v^'hit ; 
and — waiving his " grace " until the subsequent meeting, he rattled 
off extempore: 

" Old Daddy Longlegs was a sinner hoary 
And punished for his wickedness, according to the story. 
Between him and the Indian shoe, this likeness doth come in, 
One made a mock o' virtue, and one a moccasin ! " 

Laughter and applause were, in mid-roar, cut by Randolph's voice 
calling: 

Corollary first : If Daddy Longlegs stole the Indian's shoe to keep his foot 
warm, that was no excuse for him to steal his house, to keep his wigwam. 

And again he broke down — only to renew — the chorus with : 

Corollary second : Because the Indian's shoe did not tit ary Mohawk, was nc 
reason that it wouldn't fit Narragansett! 

Such, in brief retrospect was the Mosaic Club ! Such in part the 



312 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

fun and fancy and frolic that filled those winter nights in Richmond, 
when sleet and mud made movements of armies, " Heaven bless us! 
a thing of naught!" 

The old colonel — that staff veteran, so often quoted in these pages 
— was a rare, if unconscious humorist. Gourmet born, connoisseur 
by instinct and clubman by life habit, the colonel writhed in spirit 
under discomfort and camp fare, even while he bore both heroically 
in the flesh ; his two hundred and sixty pounds of it ! Once, Styles 
Staple and Will Wyatt met him, inspecting troops in a West Virginia 
town; and they received a long lecture, a la Brillat Savarin, on enor- 
mities of the kitchen. 

"And these people have fine wines, too," sadly wound up the 
colonel. "Marvelous wines, egad! But they don't know how to 
let you enjoy them !" 

" 'Tis a hard case/' sympathized Styles, " I do hear sometimes of a 
fellow getting a stray tea^ but as for a dinner ! It's no use, colonel ; 
these people either don't dine themselves, or they imagine we don't." 

"Did it ever strike you," said the colonel, waxing philosophic, 
*' that you can't dine in but two places south of the Potomac? 
True, sir. Egad! You may stumble upon a country gentleman 
with a plentiful larder and a passable cook, but then, egad, sir ! he's 
an oasis. The mass of the people South don't live, sir ! they vege- 
tate — vegetate and nothing else. You get watery soups. Then they 
offer you mellow madeira with some hot, beastly joint ; and oily old 
sherry with some confounded stew. Splendid materials — materials 
that the hand of an artist woul-d make luscious — egad, sir; luscious — 
utterly ruined in the handling. It's too bad. Styles, too bad !" 

"It is, indeed," put in Wyatt, falling into the colonel's vein, 
*'too Dad! And as for steaks, why, sir, there is not a steak m this 
whole country. They stew them, colonel, actually sie7v beefsteaks! 
Listen to the receipt a 'notable housewife ' gave me: 'Put a juicy 
steak, cut two inches thick, in a saucepan; cover it well with water; 
put in a large lump of lard and two sliced onions. Let it simmer 
till the water dries ; add a small lump of butter and a dash of pepper 
— and it's done !* Think of that, sir, for a bonne bouche /" 

" Good God !" ejaculated the colonel, with beads on his brow. " I 
have seen those things, but I never knew how they were done ! I 
shall dream of this, egad ! for weeks." 



Fow' Years vi Rebel Capitals. 313 

" Fact, sir," Wyatt added, " and I've a theory that no nation de- 
serves its liberties that stews its steaks. Can't gain them, sir! How 
can men legislate — how can men fight with a pound of stewed 
abomination holding them like lead ? ' Bold and erect the Cale- 
donian stood,' but how long do you think he would have been 
'bold,' if they had stewed his 'rare beef for him? No, sir! mark 
my words : the nation that stews its beefsteaks contracts its bounda- 
ries! As for an omelette — " 

"Say no more. Will!" broke in the colonel solemnly. "After 
the war, come to my club and we'll dine — egad, sir ! /or a iveek /" 

That invincible pluck of the southron, which carried him through 
starvation and the sweltering march of August, through hailing shot 
and shell, and freezing mud of midwinter camps — was unconquered 
even after the surrender. Equally invincible was that twin humor, 
which laughed amid all these and bore up, even in defeat. Some of 
the keenest hits of all the war — tinctured though they be with nat- 
ural bitterness — are recalled from those days, when the beaten, but 
defiant, Rebel was passing under the victor's yoke. 

Surprising, indeed, to its administrators must have been the result 
of "the oath," forced upon one green cavalryman, before he could 
return to family and farm. Swallowing the obnoxious allegiance, he 
turned to the Federal officer and quietly asked : 

"Wail, an' now I reck'n I'm loyil, ain't I?" 

"Oh, yes! You're all right," carelessly replied the captor. 

"An' ef I'm loyil, I'm same as you 'uns ?" persisted the lately 
sworn, " We're all good Union alike, eh?" 

"Oh, yes," the officer humored him. " We're all one now." '" 

"Wail then," rejoined Johnny Reb slowly, "didn't them darned 
rebs jest geen us hell sometimes?" 

City Point, on the James river, was the landing for transports 
with soldiers released from northern prisons, after parole. A bustling, 
self-important major of United States volunteers was at one time 
there, in charge. One day a most woe-begone, tattered and emaci- 
ated " Johnnie" sat swinging his shoeless feet from a barrel, await- 
ing his turn. 

" It isn't far to Richmond," suddenly remarked the smart major, 
to nobody in particular. 

" Reck'n et's neer onto three thousin' mile," drawled the Confed. 
weaklv. 



314 Foia- Years in Rebel Capitals. 

" Nonsense ! You must be crazy," retorted the officer staring. 

"Wail, I ent a-reck'nin' adzact," was the slow reply — "Jest tho't 
so, kinder." 

" Oh ! you did ? And pray why ? " 

" Cos et's took'n you'uns nigh onto foore year to git thar from 
Wash'nton," was the settling retort. 

In the provost-marshal's department at Richmond, shortly after 
surrender, was the neatest and most irrepressible of youths. Never 
discourteous and often too sympathetic, he was so overcurious as to 
be what sailors describe as "In everybody's mess and nobody's 
watch." One day a quaint, Dickensesque old lady stood hesitant in 
the office doorway. Short, wrinkled and bent with age, she wore a 
bombazine gown of antique cut — its whilom black red-rusty from 
time's dye. But " Aunt Sallie" was a character in Henrico county: 
and noted withal for the sharpest of tongues and a fierce pair of un- 
dimmed eyes, which now shone under the dingy-brown poke bonnet. 
Toward her sallied the flippant young underling, with the greeting : 

" Well, madam, what Ao yon wish ?" 

"What do I wish?" The old lady grew restive and battle- 
hungry. 

"Yes'm! That's what I asked," retorted the youth sharply. 

"What do I wish?" slowly repeated the still-rebellious dame. 
"Well, if you must know, I wish all you Yankees were in hell ! " 

But not all the humor was confined to the governing race ; some 
of its points cropping out sharply here and there, from under the 

wool of " the oppressed brother" in-law. One case is recalled of 

the spoiled body servant of a gallant Carolinian, one of General 
Wheeler's brigade commanders. His master reproved his speech 
thus: 

"Peter, you rascal! Why don't you speak English, instead of 
saying *wah yo' is' ? " 

" Waffer, Mars' Sam?" queried the negro with an innocent grin. 
" Yo alius calls de Gen'ral— Weel-tx ? " 

Another, close following the occupation, has a spice of higher 
satire. A Richmond friend had a petted maid, who — devoted and 
constant to her mistress, even in those tempting days — still burned 
with genuine negro curiosity for a sight of everything pertaining to 
" Mars' Linkum's men" — especially for " de skule." 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 315 

For swift, indeed, were the newcome saints to preach the Evangel 
of alphabet ; and negro schools seemed to have been smuggled in by 
every army ambulance, so numerously did they spring up in the capt- 
ured Capital. So, early one day, Clarissa Sophia, the maid of color, 
donned her very best and, "with shiny morning face," hied her, 
like anything but a snail, to school. Very brief was her absence ; 
her return reticent, but pouting and with unduly tip-tilted nose. Af- 
ter a time negro love for confidences conquered ; and the murder 
came out. 

The school-room had been packed and pervaded with odors — of 
sanctity, or otherwise — when a keen-nosed and eager school-marm rose 
up to exhort her class. She began by impressing the great truth that 
every sister present was '* born free and equal ;" was " quite as good " 
as she was. 

"Wa' dat yo's sain' now?" interrupted Clarissa Sophia. " Yo' 
say Ise jess ekal as yo' is ? " 

" Yes J I said so," was the sharjD retort, "and I can prove it! " 

"Ho! 'Tain't no need," replied the lately disenthralled. "Reck'n 
I is, sho' nuff. But does yo' say dat Ise good as missus? — my 
missus?" 

" Certainly you are! " This with asperity. 

"Den Ise jess gwine out yere, rite off!" cried Clarissa Sophia, 
suiting action to word — " Ef Ise good as my missus, I'se goin' ter 
(^uit ; fur I jess know she ent 'soshiatin' wid no sich wite trash like 
you is! " 

And so — under all skies and among all colors — the war dragged its 
weary length out; amid sufferings and sacrifices, which may never 
be recorded ; and which were still illumined by the flashes of un- 
quenchable humor — God's tonic for the heart ! 

Had every camp contained its Froissart — had every social circle 
held its Boswell — what a record would there be, for reading by ven- 
erations yet unborn ! 

But — when finished, as this cramped and quite unworthy chronicle 
of random recollections is — then might the reader stil qiioie justly 
her of Sheba, exclaiming : 

" And behold ! the one-half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not 
told me ! " 



3i6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 



While neither in itself — perhaps not the combination of the two — 
was final and conclusive, the beginning of the end of the Confeder- 
acy may be dated from the loss of Vicksburg and the simultaneous 
retreat from Gettysburg. For these two disasters made all classes 
consider more deeply, both their inducing causes and the final results 
that must follow a succession of such crushing blows. 

There can be little doubt that a complete victory at Gettysburg, 
vigorously followed up, would have ended the war ; and the gener- 
ally-accepted belief in the South was that the exhaustive defeat was 
proportionately bad. The war had been going on two years and a 
half. Every device had been used to put the whole numerical 
strength of the country into the field and to utilize its every resource. 
The South had succeeded to a degree that stupefied the outside world 
and astonished even herself. But the effort had exhausted, and left 
her unfit to renew it. Over and again the armies of the East and West 
had been re-enforced, reorganized and re-equipped — and ever came 
the heavy, relentless blows of the seemingly-exhaustless power, strug- 
gled against so vainly. The South had inflicted heavy loss in men, 
material and prestige ; but she wasted her strength in these blows, 
while unhappily she could not make them effective by quick rep- 
etition. 

The people, too, had lost their early faith in the Government. 
They had submitted to the most stringent levy of conscription and 
impressment ever imposed upon a nation. They had willingly left 
their fields to grow weeds, their children to run wild and perhaps to 
starve ; they had cheerfully divided their last supplies of food with 
the Government, and had gone to the front steadily and hopefully. 
But now they could not fail to see that, in some points at least, there 
had been gross mismanagement. The food for which their families 
were pinched and almost starved, did not come to the armies. Vast 
stores of provision and supplies were blocked on the roads, while 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 317 

speculators' ventures passed over them. This, the soldiers in the 
trench and the laborer at the anvil saw equally. 

They saw, too, that the Government was divided against itself; 
for the worse than weak Congress — which had formerly been as a 
nose of wax in Mr. Davis' fingers — had now turned dead against 
him. With the stolid obstinacy of stupidity it now refused to see 
any good in any measure, or in any man, approved by the Executive. 

Under the leadership of Mr. Foote — who wasted the precious 
time of Congress in windy personal diatribes against Mr. Davis and 
his "pets" — nothing was done to combine and strengthen the rapidly 
sundering elements of Confederate strength. Long debates on General 
Pemberton ; weighty disquisitions on such grave subjects as the num- 
ber of pounds of pork on hand when Vicksburg was surrendered; and 
violent attacks on the whole past comx^q of the administration, occu- 
pied the minds of those lawgivers. But at this time there was no sin- 
gle measure originated that proposed to stop tlie troubles inthefuture. 

Therefore, the people lost confidence in the divided Government ; 
and losing it began to distrust themselves. Suffering so for it, they 
could not fail to know the terrible strain t® which the country had 
been subjected. They knew that her resources in men and material 
had been taxed to the limit; that there was no fresh supply of either 
upon which to draw. This was the forlorn view that greeted them 
when they looked within. And outside, fresh armies faced and threat- 
ened them on every side — increased rather than diminished, and better 
armed and provided than ever before. 

This state of things was too patent not to be seen by the plainest 
men; and seeing it, those became dispirited who never had doubted 
before. And this time, the gloom did not lift; it became a settled 
and dogged conviction that we were fighting the good fight almost 
against hope. Not that this prevented the army and the people from 
working still, with every nerve strained to its utmost tension ; but 
they worked without the cheery hopefulness of the past. 

Fate seemed against them. Had they been Turks they would 
have said: "It is kismet! Allah is great!" As they were only 
staunch patriots, they reasoned : "It is fearful odds — but we tnay 
win." And so solemnly, gloomily — but none the less determined — 
the South again prepared for the scarcely doubtful strife. 

The stringent addenda to the Conscription law — that had come too 
late — were put into force. All men that could possibly be spared — 



3i8 Four Years iii Rebel Capitals. 

and whom the trickery of influence could not relieve — were sent to 
the front ; and their places in the Government were filled by the 
aged, the disabled, and by women. In the Government departments 
of Richmond — and in their branches further South — the first ladies 
of the land took position as clerks — driven to it by stress of circum- 
stances. And now as ever — whether in the arsenals, the factories, 
or the accountant's desk — the women of the South performed their 
labor faithfully, earnestly and well. Those men who could not pos- 
sibly be spared, were formed into companies for local defense ; were 
regularly drilled, mustered into service, and became in fact regular 
soldiers, simply detailed to perform other work, "When the wild notes 
of the alarm bell sent their frequent peals over Richmond, and warned 
of an approaching raid — armorer, butcher and clerk threw down 
hammer and knife and pen, and seized their muskets to hasten to the 
rendezvous. Even the shopkeepers and speculators, who seemed 
conscription-proof, were mustered into some sort of form ; driven to 
make at least a show of resistance to the raid, by which they would 
suffer more than any others. But it was only a show ; and so much 
more attention was paid in these organizations to filling of the com- 
missary wagon than of the cartridge-box, that the camps of such 
*' melish," in the woods around Richmond, were converted more into 
a picnic than a defense. 

Supplies of war material, of clothing, and of arms, had now be- 
come as scarce as men. The constant drain had to be supplied from 
manufactories, worked under great difficulties ; and these now were 
almost paralyzed by the necessity for their operatives at the front. 
Old supplies of iron, coal and ore had been worked up ; and obtain- 
ing and utilizing fresh ones demanded an amount of labor that could not 
be spared. The blockade had now become thoroughly effective; and, 
except a rare venture at some unlooked-for spot upon the coast, no 
vessel was expected to come safely through the network of ships. 
Blankets and shoes had almost completely given out; and a large 
proportion of the army went barefoot and wrapped in rugs given by 
the ladies of the cities, who cut up their carpets for that purpose. 

Yet, in view of all this privation ; with a keen sense of their own 
sacrifices and a growing conviction that they were made in vain, the 
army kept up in tone and spirits. There was no intention or desire 
to yield, as long as a blow could be struck for the cause; and the 
veteran and the "new issue "^as the new conscripts were called in 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 319 

derision of the currency — alike determined to work on as steadily, if 
not so cheerily, as before. 

And still Congress wrangled on with Government and within 
itself; still Mr. Foote blew clouds of vituperative gas at President and 
Cabinet; still Mr. Davis retained, in council and field, the men he 
had chosen. And daily he grew more unpopular with the people, 
who, disagreeing with him, still held him in awe, while they despised 
the Congress. Even in this strait, the old delusion about tlie col- 
lapse of Federal finance occasionally came up for hopeful discussion ; 
and, from time to time, Mr. Benjamin would put out a feeler about 
recognition from governments that remembered us less than had we 
really been behind the great wall of China. 

After Gettysburg and Vicksburg, came a lull in the heavier opera- 
tions of the war. But raids of the enemy's cavalr)'' were organized 
and sent to penetrate the interior South, in every direction. To meet 
them were only home guards and the militia; with sometimes a 
detachment of cavalry, hastily brought up from a distant point. This 
latter branch of service, as well as light artillery, now began to give 
way. The fearful strain upon both, in forced and distant marches, 
added to the wearing campaigns over the Potomac, had used up the 
breed of horses in the South. Those remaining were broken down 
by hard work and half feed; so that one-half the cavalry was dis- 
mounted — belonging to "Company Q" the men called it — nnd the 
rest was scarcely available for a rapid march, or a very hea^•y shock. 

But the cavalry of the enemy had increased wonderfully in drill, 
discipline and general efficiency. Armed with the best weapons, 
mounted upon choice horses, composed of picked men and officered 
by the boldest spirits in the North, Federal cavalry now began to be 
the most potent arm of their service. Men sadly recalled the pleas- 
ant days when the brilliant squadrons of Hampton, or Fitz Lee — 
the flower of the South, mounted on its best blood stock — dashed 
laughingly down upon three times their force, only to see them 
break and scatter; while many of their number rolled over the 
plain, by the acts of their own steeds rather than of hostile sabers. 
Even much later, when the men were ragged and badly armed, and 
the horses were gaunt from famine, they still could meet the im- 
proving horsemen of the enemy and come off victors — as witness the 
battles of the Fords. But now the Yankees had learned to fight — and 
more incomprehensible still to the Reb, they had learned to ride ! 



320 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

They were superior in numbers, equipment, and — to be honest — in 
discipHne ; and could no longer be met with any certainty of suc- 
cess. It was a bitter thing for the Golden Horse Shoe Knights; 
but like many ugly things about this time, it was true. So the Yankee 
raids — aimed as a finality for Richmond, but ever failing approach to 
their object — still managed to do incalculable mischief. They drove 
off the few remaining cattle, stole and destroyed the hoarded mite 
of the widowed and unprotected — burned barns — destroyed farming 
utensils ; and, worse than all, they demoralized the people and kept 
them in constant dread. 

As a counter-irritant, and to teach the enemy a lesson, General 
Morgan, early in July, started on a raid into the Northwest. With 
2,000 men and a light battery, he passed through Kentucky and on 
to the river, leaving a line of conquest and destruction behind him — 
here scattering a regiment of the enemy — there demoralizing a home 
guard ; and, at the river, fighting infantry and a gunboat, and forc- 
ing his way across into Indiana. Great was the scare in the West, 
at this first taste the fine fruits of raiding. Troops were telegraphed, 
engines flew up and down the roads as if possessed ; and in short, 
home guards, and other troops, were collected to the number of 
nearly 30,000 men. 

Evading pursuit, and scattering the detached bands he met, Mor- 
gan crossed the Ohio line — tearing up roads, cutting telegraphs, and 
inflicting much damage and inconceivable panic — until he reached 
within five miles of Cincinnati. Of course, with his merely nomi- 
nal force, he could make no attempt on the city; so, after fourteen 
days of unresting raiding — his command pressed, worn out and 
broken down — he headed for the river once more. A small portion 
of the command had already crossed, when the pursuing force came 
up. Morgan made heavy fight, but his men were outnumbered and 
exhausted. A few, following him, cut their way through the enemy 
and fled along the north bank of the Ohio. The pursuit was fierce 
and hot; the flight determined, fertile in expedients, but hopeless in 
an enemy's country, raised to follow the cry. He was captured, 
with most of his staff and all of his command that was left — save 
the few hundred who had crossed the river and escaped into the 
mountains of Virginia. 

Then for four months — until he dug his way out of his dungeon 
with a small knife — John Morgan was locked up as a common felon, 



Four Years i)i Rebel Capitals. 321 

starved, insulted and treated with brutality, the recital of which 
sickens — even having his head shaveo! There was no excuse ever 
attempted; no pretense that he was a guerrilla. It was done simply 
to glut spite and to make a dreaded enemy feel his captors' power. 

Meantime General Bragg, at Tullahoma, faced by Rosecrans 
and flanked by Burnside's "Army of the Cumberland," was forced 
to fall back to Chattanooga. Rosecrans pressed him hard, with the 
intent of carrying out that pet scheme of the North, forcing his army 
down through Georgia and riddling the Cotton States. It is inessen- 
tial here to recount the details of these movements. Rosecrans had a 
heavy and compact force; ours was weak and scattered, and Bragg's 
urgent appeal for men met the invariable answer, there were none to 
send. For the same reason — insufficient force — Buckner was forced 
to abandon Knoxville ; and a few weeks later Cumberland Gap, the 
key-position to East Tennessee and Georgia, was surrendered ! 

At this critical juncture the loss of that position could scarcely be 
exaggerated ; and the public indignantly demanded of Government 
why it had been lost. The War Department shifted the responsi- 
bility, and declared that no reason existed ; that the place was provis- 
ioned and impregnable, and that the responsibility rested alone with 
the officer in command, who was now a prisoner with his whole force. 

This hardly satisfied the public clamor ; and so ill-omened a com- 
mencement augured badly for the success of the campaign for posi- 
tion, in which both armies were now manoeuvring. The real details 
of these preliminary movements are scarcely clear to this day. General 
Bragg's friends declare that he forced Rosecrans to the position ; his 
enemies, that Rosecrans first out-generaled him and then laid himself 
open to destruction, while Bragg took no advantage of the situation. 

However this may be, we know that on the morning of the 19th 
September, '63, the battle of Chickamauga was commenced by the 
enemy in a series of obstinate division engagements, rather than in 
a general battle ; Bragg's object being to gain the Chattanooga road 
in the enemy's rear, and his to prevent it. The fighting was heavy, 
stubborn and fierce, and its brunt was borne by Walker, Hood and 
Cleburne. Night fell on an undecided field, where neither had ad- 
vantage ; and the enemy perhaps had suffered more heavily than we. 

All that night he worked hard to strengthen his position; and our 
attack — which was to have commenced just at dawn — was delayed 
from some misapprehension of orders. At length Breckinridge and 



322 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

Cleburne opened the fight, and then it raged with desperate, bloody 
obstinacy, until late afternoon. At that time the Confederate right 
had been repulsed; but Longstreet's left had driven the enemy be- 
fore it. Then the whole southern line reformed ; moving with steady, 
resistless sweep upon the confident enemy. He fought obstinately — 
wavered — rallied — then broke again and fled toward Chattanooga. 
The rout was complete and the enemy so demoralized that Longstreet 
— feeling that he could be crushed while panic-struck — ordered 
Wheeler to intercept his flight. It was stated that Longstreet's order 
was countermanded by General Bragg; but — whatever the reason — 
there was no pursuit ! 

The fruits of the hard-won victory were 8,000 prisoners, 50 pieces 
of artillery, near 20,000 muskets — plus a loss of life barren of results. 
For, instead of crushing the enemy and completely relieving the state 
and the Georgia frontier, the failure to press Rosecrans at the moment 
left him free communication with his rear and full time to recuperate. 
Instead of pressing on. General Bragg took position on Missionary 
Ridge; and criticism of the hour declared that he thus invested the 
Federals in the town, which — by a rapid advance — might already have 
been his, without a fight. 

It is neither the intent, nor within the scope of these papers — even 
did their author possess the ability for it — to enter into detailed criti- 
cism of military events; far less to reopen those acrimonious partisan, 
ships, so bootless at the time and worse than useless now. But, 
to comprehend the state of public feeling at the South, it is essential 
to have the plain data, upon which it was based; and to have plainly 
stated the causes to which popular opinion ascribed certain results. 

After Chickamauga, there was very general — and seemingly not 
causeless — discontent. The eternal policy of massing great armies, 
.at any sacrifice; fighting terrible battles; and then failing to close the 
grasp upon their fruits — apparently already in hand — had worn i)ublic 
patience so threadbare, that it refused to regard Chickamauga as 
anything more than another of those aimless killings, which had 
so often drenched the West, to no avail. 

Strong and open expression was made of the popular wish for 

General Bragg's removal; but Mr. Davis refused — as ever — to hear 

the people's voice, in a matter of policy. He retained General 

Bragg, and the people held him responsible for what they claimed 

\was the result — Lookout Mountain ! 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 323 

Fas est ab hoste doceri. Public clamor at the North declared that 
loss of command should reward Rosecrans for loss of the battle ; 
and, in mid-October, he was superseded by General Grant. 

Like all popular heroes of the war, Grant had become noted, 
rather through hard-hitting than strategic combination. His zenith 
was mounted on the capture of Vicksburg ; a project which northern 
generals denounced as bad soldiership and possible of success, only 
through an enemy's weakness. At this time, he was certainly not 
in high estimation of his own army, because of dogged disregard of 
loss in useless assaults; and it will be recalled that General McCler- 
nand was court-martialed for his declaration that he "could not be 
expected to furnish brains for the whole army!" The estimate of 
Grant's compeers is not refuted by any evidence in the War Depart- 
ment that, from Shiloh to Appomattox, he ever made one combina- 
tion stamped by mark of any soldiership, higher than courage and 
bull-dog tenacity. Even scouting the generally-accepted idea, in the 
army of Vicksburg and later in that of Chattanooga — that McPher- 
son provided plans and details of his campaigns; and dismissing 
McClernand's costly taunt as mere epigram — this was the accepted 
estimate of General Grant's tactical power. 

But he inaugurated his command at Chattanooga with boldness 
and vigor. He concentrated 25,000 troops in the town; opened his 
communications ; arid then — to prevent any possible movement 
flanking him out of them — boldly took the initiative. 

Meantime, Longstreet had been detached by General Bragg, for 
that badly-provided, badly-digested and wholly ill-starred expedition 
to Knoxville; one which seemed to prove that the history of misfort- 
une was ever to repeat itself, in impracticable diversions at precisely 
the wrong time. For, even had this corps not been badly equipped 
and rationed, while almost wholly lacking in transportation, it 
certainly depleted a daily-weakening army, in the face of one already 
double its numbers and daily increasing. 

On November i8th — spite of management that forced him to sub- 
sist on precarious captures — Longstreet reached the enemy's advanced 
lines, at Knoxville ; drove him into the city and completely isolated 
him from communication. Capitulation was a mere matter of time ; 
but disastrous news from the main army drove the Confederate to the 
alternative of assault, or retreat. Choosing the former, he m^de it 
with the same desperate gallantry displayed at Gettysburg, or Corinth ; 



324 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

illustrated by brilliant, but unavailing, personal prowess. The 
strength of the enemy's works — and openness of approach, wiih wire 
netting interlaced among the stumps of the new clearing, was too 
much for the southern soldiers. Several times they reached the 
works, fighting hand-to-hand; but finally Longstreet fell back, in 
good order and carrying his subsistence. He chose his own line of 
retreat, too ; and with such good judgment as to be within reach of 
any new combination of Bragg — from whom he was now cut off — or, 
failing that, to keep his rear open through Virginia, to Lee's army. 

Meantime, Grant massed troops in Chattanooga, sufficient in his 
judgment to crush Bragg; and, learning of the latter's detachment 
of Longstreet's corps, determined to strike early and hard. On the 
25th he attacked with his whole force, in two grand columns under 
Thomas, Sherman and Hooker. The little southern army of less than 
forty thousand was judiciously posted; having advantage of being 
attacked. The terrible shock of the double attack was successfully 
repulsed on the right by Hardee, on the left by Buckner. Broken, 
reeling — shattered — he was hurled back, only to form again with 
splendid courage. Once more checked and driven back, after des- 
perate fighting on both sides, the Federals made a third advance with 
steady, dogged valor. Then constancy was rewarded; they broke 
the Confederate center ; swung it in disorder upon the wings ; and, 
holding the ground so hotly won, had the key to the position. 

Still the day was not wholly lost to the South, had her men not 
given way to causeless panic. Left and right followed center — lost 
all order and fell back almost in flight. Then the scattered and de- 
moralized army was saved from utter ruin, only by the admirable 
manner in which Cleburne covered that rout-like retreat, day after 
day; finally beating back Thomas' advance so heavily that pursuit 
was abandoned. 

Missionary Ridge cost the South near 8,000 men ; all the Chicka- 
mauga artillery and more ; and the coveted key-position to the situa- 
tion. But it cost, besides, what could even less be spared ; some 
slight abatement in the popular confidence in our troops, under all 
trials heretofore. Reasoning from their dislike to General Bragg, 
people and press declared that the men had been badly handled 
through the whole campaign; yet — so inured were they to the rag- 
ged boys fighting successfully both the enemy and our own errors — 
there came general bad augury from the panic of Missionary Ridge.- 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 325 

Mr. Davis had visited Bragg's army, after the howl that went up 
on his failure to press Rosecrans. On his return, the President ap- 
peared satisfied and hopeful ; he authorized statement that the delay 
after Chickamauga was simply strategic ; and the impression went 
abroad that Bragg and he had affected combinations now, which 
would leave Grant only the choice between retreat and destruction. 

If these tactics meant the detaching of Longstreet — said thought- 
ful critics— then are combination and suicide convertible terms ! 

Neither was public feeling much cheered by the aspect of the war 
in Virginia. Lee and Meade coquetted for position, without definite 
result; the former — weakened by Longstreet's absence — striving to slip 
between Meade and Washington; the latter aiming to flank and mass 
behind Lee, on one of the three favorite routes to Richmond. The 
fill and winter wore away with these desultory movements ; produc- 
ing many a sharp skirmish, but nothing more resultful. These offered 
T)iotif {ox display of dash and military tact on both sides; that at 
Kelly's Ford, on the Rapidan — where the Federals caught the Con- 
federates unprepared — showing the hardest hitting with advantage on 
the Union side. The compliment was exchanged, by a decisive 
southern success at Germania Ford ; but the resultless fighting dis- 
pirited and demoralized the people, while it only harassed and weak- 
ened the army. Both looked to the great shock to come ; forces for 
which were gathering, perhaps unseen and unheard, yet felt by that 
morbid prescience which comes in the supreme crises of life. 

The trans-Mississippi was now absolutely cut off from participation 
in the action of the eastern Confederacy; almost equally so from 
communication with it. Still that section held its own, in the warfare 
peculiar to her people and their situation. Quick concentrations; 
sharp, bloody fights — skirmishes in extent, but battles in exhibition of 
pluck and endurance — were of constant occurrence. Kirby Smith 
— become almost a dictator through failure of communication — 
administered his department with skill, judgment and moderation. 
Husbanding his internal resources, he even established — in the few 
accessible ports, defiant of blockade — a system of foreign supply; 
and " Kirby Smithdom "—as it came to be called— was, at this time, 
the best provisioned and prepared of the torn and stricken sections of 
the Confederacy. 

Note has been made of the improvement of Federal cavalry; and 
of their raids, tliat struck terror and dismay among the people. 



326 Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 

During the winter of '63-64, Averill penetrated the heart of Vir- 
ginia, scattering destruction in his path; and, though he retired 
before cavalry sent to pursue him — he even shot his horses as they 
gave out, in the forced flight — his expedition had accomplished its 
object. It had proved that no point of harassed territory was safe 
from Federal devastation ; that the overtaxed and waning strength of 
the South was insufficient to protect them now ! 

^ Gradually — very gradually — this blight of doubt and dissatisfac- 
tion began to affect the army ; and — while it was no longer possible to 
fill their places by new levies — some of the men already at the front 
began to skulk, and even to desert. 

Though still uncondoned, the crime of these was roughly urged 
upon them ; for imagination brought to the ears of all, the shriek of 
the distant wife, insulted by the light of her burning roof and turned 
starving and half<lothed, into the snowy midnight ! And all the 
more honor was it to the steadfast that they held out — dogged but 
willing — to the bitter end ; fighting as man had not fought before 
— not only against their enemy — not only against their own natural 
impulses — but against hope, as well ! 

For the mass of that grand, tattered and worn army never fal- 
tered ; and only their enduring patriotism — backed as it was by 
selfless energy of their home people — availed to make up for the lost 
opportunities of the Government ! 

In Congress was vacillation, discord, vacuity; while the people 
were goaded to the absurd charge, that some of its members were 
traitors ! But the great diplomat has graven the truth, that an error 
may be worse than a crime; and the errors of the Confederate 
Congress — from alplui to ivnega — were born of weakness and feeble 
grasp on the prompt occasions of a great strife, like this which so 
submerged their littleness. 

It is in some sort at the door of Congress that the head of the 
government, harassed by overwork, distracted by diverse trifles — 
each one toe vital to entrust to feeble subordinates ; buffeted by the 
gathering surge without and dragged down by the angry undertow 
within, lost his influence, and with it his power to save ! 

The beginning of the end had come upon the South. Her stout- 
est and bravest hearts still, 

"Like muOleil dninis. were beating 
Funer.il marches to the crr^ve I" 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 327 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE UPPER AND NETHER MILLSTONES. 

From the earliest moment General Grant assumed command in 
the West, the old idea of bisecting the Confederacy seems to have 
monopolized his mind. The oft-tried theory of "drilling the heart 
of the Rebellion " — by cutting through to the Atlantic seaboard — 
had never been lost sight of, but in Grant's hands it was to be given 
practical power and direction. 

To effect that object, it was essential to make North Georgia the 
objective point ; and North Georgia — now as ever — offered a stub- 
born and well-nigh insurmountable barrier. But the northern War 
Department was now fully impressed with the importance of crushing 
the spine of the Confederacy ; and the fact was as clearly realized in 
the North, as in the South, that the vital cord of Confederate being 
ran from Atlanta to Richmond ! Therefore, every facility of men 
and material was furnished the commander, who at that moment 
stood out — in reflected lights from Vicksburg and Missionary Ridge 
— as the military oracle of the North; and he was urged to press this 
design of the campaign to a vigorous and speedy issue. 

During the winter of 1863-64, General Grant incubated his grand 
scheme, and with the month of February brought forth a quadru[)le 
brood of ridiculous mice. 

His plan — in itself a good and sound one — was to secure a perma- 
nent base nearer than the Mississippi. To accomplish this he must 
first secure Mobile, as a water base, and connect that with some de- 
fensible point inland. At the same time that this attempt was made 
— and while the troops guarding the passway into Georgia might be 
diverted — Thomas, commanding the Chattanooga lines, was to ad- 
vance against that point. 

The plan was undoubtedly sound, but the general's want of bal- 
ance caused him to overweight it, until its own ponderousness was its 
destruction. On the ist of February, Sherman, with a splendidly-ap- 
pointed force of 35,000 infantry, and corresponding cavalry and ar- 
tillery, marched out of Vicksburg; to penetrate to Mobile, or some 



328 Four Ytars in Rtln/ Capitals. 

other point more accessible, on the hne of tlie proposed now base. 
Simultaneously a heavy force approached the city from New Orleans; 
Smith and Grierson, with a strong body of cavalry, penetrated North- 
ern Mississippi ; and Thomas made his demonstration referred to. 

Any candid critic will see that four converging columns, to be ef- 
fective, should never have operated so far away from their point of 
convergence, and so far separated from each other. The enterprise 
was gigantic ; but its awkwardness equaled its strength, and its own 
weight broke its back. 

Sherman, harassed by cavalry and skirmishers — advanced in solid 
column; while Polk, with his merely nominal force, was unable to 
meet him. But the latter fell back in good order ; secured his sup- 
plies, and so retarded his stronger adversary, that he saved all the 
rolling-stock of the railroads. "When he evacuated Meridian, that 
lately busy railroad center was left a worthless prize to the captor. 

Meantime Forrest had harassed the cavalry force of Smith and 
Grierson, with not one-fourth their numbers; badly provided and 
badly mounted. Yet he managed to inflict heavy loss and retard the 
enemy's march; but finally — unable to wait the junction of S. D. 
Lee, to give the battle he felt essential — Forrest, on the 20th February, 
faced the Federal squadrons. Confident of an easy victory over the 
ragged handful of dismounted skirmishers, the picked cavalry dashed 
gaily on. Charge after charge was received only to be broken — and 
Forrest was soon in full pursuit of the whipped and demoralized col- 
umns. Only once they turned, were heavily repulsed, and then con- 
tinued their way to Memphis. 

This check of his co-operating column and the utter fruitlessness 
of his own march, induced a sudden change of Sherman's intent. 
He fell rapidly back to Vicksburg ; his army perhaps more worn, 
broken and demoralized by the desultory attentions of ours, than it 
would have been by a regular defeat. 

Meantime the New Orleans-Pensacola expedition had danced on 
and off Mobile without result. Thomas had been so heavily rejuilsed 
on the 25th, that he hastily withdrew to his hues at Chickamauga — 
and the great campaign of General Grant had resulted in as insig- 
nificant a fizz as any costly piece of fireworks the war produced. 

On the contrary, history will give just meed to Forrest, I.ee and 
Polk for their efticient use of the handfuls of ill-provided men. with 
whom alone they could oppose separate and organized armies. They 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 329 

saved Alabama and Georgia — and so, for the time, saved the Con- 
federacy. There could be no doubt that the sole safety of the invad- 
ing columns was their numerical weakness. General Grant's practice 
of a perfectly sound theory was clearly a gross blunder ; and had 
Folk been in command of two divisions more — had Lee been able to 
swoop where he only hovered — or had Forrest's ragged boys been 
only doubled in number — the story told in Vicksburg would have 
been even less flattering to the strategic ability of the commander. 

As it was, he had simply made a bad failure, and given the South 
two months' resjiite from the crushing pressure he was yet to apply. 
For the pet scheme of the North was but foiled — not ruined ; and 
her whole power sang but the one refrain — Delenda est Atlanta ! 

And those two months could not be utilized to much effect by the 
South. Worn in resources, supplies — in everything but patient en- 
durance, she still came forth from the dark doubts the winter had 
raised, hopeful, if not confident ; calm, if conscious of the porten- 
tous clouds lowering upon her horizon. 

Meanwhile, Grant, elevated to a lieutenant-generalcy, had been 
transferred to the Potomac frontier; and men, money, supplies — 
without stint or limit — had been placed at his disposal. 

On the ist February, Mr. Lincoln had called for 500,000 men; 
and on the 14th March for 200,000 more ! 

General Grant, himself, testified to the absolute control given him, 
in a letter to Mr. Lincoln, under date of ist May, '64 — from Cul- 
peper C. H., which concludes : "I have been astonished at the read- 
iness with which everything asked for has been granted without any 
explanation being asked. Should my success be less than I desire 
and expect, the least I can say is, that the fault is not with you." 

With these unlimited resources, he was given almost unlimited 
power; and the jubilant North crowed as loudly as it had before 
Manassas, the Seven Days, or Fredericksburg. 

In Richmond all was quiet. The Government had done all it 
could, and the people had responded with a generous unanimity 
that ignored all points of variance between it and them. All the 
supplies that could be collected and forwarded, under the very im- 
perfect systems, were sent to the armies ; all the arms that could be 
made, altered or repaired, were got ready ; and every man not abso- 
lutely needed elsewhere — with the rare exceptions of influence and 
favoritism openly defying the law — was already at the front. 



33° Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

And seeing that all was done as well as might be, the Capital 
waited — not with the buoyant hopefulness of the past — but with 
patient and purposeful resolve. 

And the ceaseless clang of preparation, cut by the ceaseless yell 
of anticipated triumph, still echoed over the Potomac — ever nearer 
and ever louder. Then, by way of interlude, on the 28lh March, 
came the notorious Dahlgren raid. Though Kilpatrick was demor- 
alized and driven back by the reserves in the gunless works; though 
Custar's men retired before the furloughed artillerists and home 
guards; and though Dahlgren's picked cavalry were wliipped in the 
open field by one-fourth their number of Richmond clerks and arti- 
sans ! — boys and old men who had never before been under fire — 
still the object of that raid remains a blot even upon the page of 
this uncivilized warfare. It were useless to enter into details of facts- 
so well and clearly proved. That the orders of Dahlgren's men 
were to release the prisoners, burn, destroy and murder, the papers 
found on his dead body showed in plainest terms. 

No wonder, then, that many in Richmond drew comfort from 
soothing belief in special Providence, when three trained columns 
of picked cavalry were turned back in disgraceful flight, by a handful 
of invalids, old men and boys ! 

The feeling in Richmond against the raiders was bitter and uni- 
versal. Little vindictive, in general, the people clamored that arson 
and murder — as set forth in Dahlgren's orders — merited more serious 
punishment than temporary detention and highflown denunciation. 
The action of the Government in refusmg summary vengeance on 
the cavalrymen captured, was indubitably just and proper. What- 
ever their object, and whatever their orders, they were captured in 
arms and were but prisoners of war ; and, besides, they had not 
really intended more than dozens of other raiders had actually accom- 
plished on a smaller scale. 

But the people would not see this. They murmured loudly against 
the weakness of not making these men an example. And more than 
one of the papers used this as the handle for violent abuse of the 
Government and of its chief. 

At last all preparations were complete ; and the northern army — as 
perfect in equipment, drill and discipline as if it had never been de- 
feated — came down to the Rapid an. 

Grant divided his army into three corps, urder Hancock, Warren 



Four Years iyi Rebel Capitals. 331 

and Sedgwick; and on the 5th May, his advance crossed the river, 
only to find Lee quietly seated in his path. Then commenced that 
series of battles, unparalleled for bloody sacrifice of men and obsti- 
nacy of leader — a series of battles that should have written General 
Grant the poorest strategist who had yet inscribed his name on the 
long roll of reverses. And yet, by a strange fatality, they resulted in 
making him a hero to the unthinsmg masses of his countrymen. 

Lee's right rested on the Orange road; and an attempt, after the 
crossing, to turn it, was obstinately repulsed during the entire day, 
by Heth and Wilcox. During the night Hancock's corps crossed the 
river, and next morning received a fierce assault along his whole line. 
The fighting was fierce and obstinate on both sides ; beating back 
the right and left of Hancock's line, while sharply repulsed on the 
center (Warren's), Still his loss was far heavier than ours, and the 
result of the battles of the Wilderness was to put some 23,000 of 
QjX2LVi.\!'=>xs\txv hors de combat ; to check him and to force a change of 
plan at the very threshold of his "open door to Richmond." For 
next day (7th May) he moved toward Fredericksburg railroad, in a 
blind groping to flank Lee. 

It is curious to note the different feeling in Washington and Rich- 
mond on receipt of the news. In the Nqrth — where the actual truth 
did not reach — there was wild exultation. The battles of the Wilder- 
ness were accounted a great victory; Lee was demoralized and would 
be swept from the path of the conquering hero ; Grant had at last 
really found the "open door!" In Richmond there was a calm and 
thankful feeling that the first clinch of the deadly tug had resulted in 
advantage. Waning confidence in the valor of men, and discretion of 
the general, was strengthened, and a somewhat hopeful spirit began 
to be infused into the people. Still thty felt there would be a dead- 
lier strain this time than ever before, and that the fresh and increas- 
ing thousands of the North could be met but by a steadily dimin- 
ishing few — dauntless, tireless and true — but still how weak ! Yet 
there was no give to the southern spirit, and — as ever in times of 
deadliest strain and peril — it seemed to rise more buoyant from the 
pressure. 

Next came the news of those fearful fights at Spottsylvania, on 
the 8th and 9th — in which the enemy lost three to our one — preceding 
the great battle of the 12th May. By a rapid and combined attack 
the enemy broke Lee's line, captured a salient with Generals Ed John- 



332 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

son and George H. Stewart and part of their commands, and threat- 
ened, for the time, to cut his army in two. But Longstreet and 
Hill sent in division after division from the right and left, and the 
fight became general and desperate along the broken salient. The 
Yankees fought with obstinacy and furious pluck. Charge after 
charge was broken and hurled back. On they came again — ever to 
the shambles! Night fell on a field piled thick with bodies of the 
attacking force ; in front of the broken salient was a perfect charnel- 
house ! 

By his own confession, Grant drove into the jaws of death at 
Spoitsylvania over 27,000 men! But his object was, for the second 
time, utterly frustrated; and again he turned to the left — still dogged 
and obstinate — still seeking to flank Lee. 

On the 14th, Grant was again repulsed so sharply that his advance 
withdrew; and then the "greatest strategist since Napoleon" struck 
out still for his cherished left; and, leaving " the open door," passed 
down the Valley of the Rappahannock. 

Lee's calm sagacity foresaw the enemy's course, and on the 23d 
Grant met him face to face, in a strong position near the North Anna. 
Blundering upon Lee's lines, throwing his men blindly against works 
that were proved invincibly, he was heavily repulsed in two attacks — 
with aggregate loss amounting to a bloody battle. Failing in the 
second attack (on the 25th) Grant swung off — still to the left — and 
crossing the Pamunkey two days later, took up strong position near 
Cold Harbor on the last day of May. 

Lee also moved down to fiice Grant, throwing his works up on a 
slight curve extending from Atlee's, on the Central Railroad, across the 
old Cold Harbor field — averaging some nine miles from Richmond. 
Our general was satisfied with tlie results of the campaign thus far ; 
the army was buoyant and confident, and the people were more reliant 
than they had been since Grant had crossed the Rapidan. They felt 
that the nearness of his army to Richmond in no sense argued its 
entrance into her coveted defenses; and memories of Seven Pines, 
and of that other Cold Harbor, arose to comfort them. 

In the North, great was the jubilee. It was asserted that Grant 
could now crush Lee and capture his stronghold at a single blow ; 
that the present position was only the result of his splendid strategy 
and matchless daring ; and the vapid boast, " I will fight it out on this 
line if it takes all summer "—actually uttered while he was blindly 



Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 335 

groping his way, by the left, to the Pamunkey! — was swallowed 
whole by the credulous masses of the North. They actually believed 
that Grant's position was one of choice, not of necessity; and that 
Lee's movement to cover Richmond from his erratic advance — 
though it ever presented an unbroken front to him, and frequendy 
drove him back with heavy loss — was still a retreat ! 

Both sides can look now calmly and critically at this campaign — 
seemingly without a fixed plan, and really so hideously costly in 
blood. When Grant crossed the Rapidan, he could have had no 
other intention than to sweep Lee from his front; and either by a 
crushing victory, or a forced retreat, drive him toward Richmond. 
Failing signally at the Wilderness, he abandoned this original plan and 
took up the Fredericksburg line. Here again the disastrous days of 
Spottsylvania foiled him completely; and he struck for the Tappahan- 
nock and Fort Royal line. Lee's emphatic repulse of his movement 
on the North Anna again sent Grant across the Pamunkey; and into 
the very tracks of McCUllan two years before! 

But there was one vast- difference. McCIellan had reached this 
base with no loss. Grant, with all McClellan's experience to teach 
him, had not reached this point at a cost of less than 70,000 men! 

Had he embarked his troops in transports and sailed up the river, 
Grant might have landed his army at the White House in twenty- 
four hours ; and that without the firing of a shot. But he had chosen a 
route that was to prove him not only the greatest strategist of the age, 
but the most successful as well. The difference of the two was sim- 
ply this: he took twenty-six days instead of one; he fought nine 
bloody engagements instead of none ; he made four separate changes 
in his digested plan of advance; and he lost 70,000 men to gain a 
position a condemned general had occupied two years before without 
a skirmish ! 

But the people of the North did not see this. They were only al- 
lowed partial reports of losses and changes of plan ; they were given 
exaggerated statements of the damage done to Lee and of his dire 
strait ; and the fact of Grant's proximity to the Rebel Capital was made 
the signal for undue and premature rejoicing. He was already univer- 
sally declared the captor of Richmond, by a people willing to accept a 
fact with no thought of its cost ; to accept a result for the causes 
that produced it. 

But Grant was now in a position when he could not afford to await 



334 Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 

the slow course of siege operations. He could not allow time for the 
hubbub at the North to die away and reflection to take its place. 
Blood to hirn was no thicker than water ; and he must vindicate the 
boasts of his blind admirers — cost thousands of lives though it might. 
Once more he marshaled his re-enforced ranks, only to hurl them into 
the jaws of death. For though worn away by the fearful friction of 
numbers — melted slowly in the fiery furnace of battle — the little Con- 
federate force sat behind its works, grim, defiant — dangerous as 
ever ! 

Could Grant crush out that handful by the pure weight of his 
fresh thousands — could he literally hurl enough flesh and blood against 
it to sweep it before him — then the key of every road to Richmond 
was in his hands! So, on the morning of the 3d of June, Hancock's 
corps rushed to tlie assault. 

Impetuous and fierce, the charge broke Breckinridge's line. Fresh 
men poured in and, for a moment, the works were in the enemy's 
hands. But it was only for a moment. They rallied, relief came — 
the conflict was fierce and close — but it was short. When the smoke 
rose, Hancock's line was broken and retreating. Again and again 
he rallied it splendidly, only to be hurled back each time with deadlier 
slaughter. On the other points Warren and Burnside had been 
driven back with terrible loss ; and along the whole southern line the 
death-dealing volley into the retreating ranks rang the joyous notes of 
victory. Grant had played the great stake of his campaign and 
lost it! 

He had lost it completely, and in an incredibly short time. Near 
30,000 men told the horrid story of that ferocious hurling of flesh 
and blood against earthworks. Near one-fifth of his whole force had 
paid for his last great blunder, while the Confederate loss was less 
than one-tenth his own ! 

Even McClellan's line had failed the sledge-hammer strategist, and 
nothing was left but to transfer his army to the south side of the 
James. Lingering with dogged pertinacity on his slow retreat — turn- 
ing at every road leading to the prize he yearned for, only to be 
beaten back — Grant finally crossed the river with his whole force on 
the 13th of June. 

The great campaign was over. It had been utterly foiled at every 
point ; had been four times turned into a new channel only to be 



Four Years iyi Rebel Capitals. 335 

more signally broken ; and had ended in a bloody and decisive defeat 
that left Grant no alternative but to give up his entire plan and try a 
new one on a totally different line. For the southern arms it had 
been one unbroken success from the Rapidan to Cold Harbor ; for 
though sometimes badly hurt, the Confederates had never once been 
driven from an important position ; had never once failed to turn the 
enemy from his chosen line of advance — and had disabled at the least 
calculation 120,000 of his men at the cost of less tlian 17,000 of their 
own ! 

Such was the southern view, at the moment, of this campaign of 
invasion; as unparalleled in the history of war, as was that of Stone- 
wall Jackson in the Valley. Such is the view of southern thinkers, 
to-day; and it is backed by the clearest judgment and calmest criti- 
cism of the North. 

That success was made the test of merit ; that attrition at last wore 
away unre-enforced resistance ; that highest honors m life, and national 
sorrow in death, were rewards of a man — truly great in many regards, 
if justly measured ; all these are no proof that General Grant was 
either a strategist, or a thinker ; no denial that his Rapidan campaign 
— equally in its planning and its carrying out — was a bald and need- 
lessly-bloody failure ! 

And, realizing this at the supreme moment, can it be wondered 
that the people of Richmond, as well as the victorious little army, 
grew hopeful once more ? Is it strange that — mingled with thanks- 
givings for deliverance, unremitting care of the precious wounded, 
and sorrow for the gallant dead of many a Virginia home — there 
rose a solemn joyousness over the result, that crowned the toil, the 
travail and the loss? 

And so the South, unrefreshed but steadfast, girded her loins for 
the new wrestle with the foe, now felt to be implacable ! 



336 Four Years in Rebel Capilah. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

"the land of darkness and the shadow of death." 

It is essential to a clear understanding of the events, directly pre- 
ceding the fall of the Confederacy, to pause here and glance at the 
means with which that result was so long delayed, but at last so fully 
accomplished. 

From ofificial northern sources, we learn that General Grant 
crossed the Rapidan with three corps, averaging over 47,000 men. 
Therefore, he must have fought the battles of the Wilderness with 
at least 140,000 men. At that time the total strength of General 
Lee's morning report did not show 46,000 men for duty. Between 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, Grant was re-enforced to the ex- 
tent of near 48,000 picked men; and again at Cold Harbor with near 
45,000 more. Northern figures admit an aggregate of 97,000 re-en- 
forcement between the Rapidan and the James ! In that time, Lee, 
by the junction of Breckinridge and all the fragments of brigades he 
could collect, received less than 16,000 re-enforcement; and even the 
junction with Beauregard scarcely swelled his total additions over 
20,000. 

Grant's army, too, was composed of the picked veterans of the 
North — for his Government had accepted large numbers of hundred- 
day men for local and garrison duty, that all the seasoned troops 
might be sent him. Yet with an aggregate force of 234,000 men, op- 
posed to a total of less than 63,000, General Grant failed signally 
in the plan, or plans of his campaign — losing in twenty-six days, and 
nine heavy fights and several skirmishes, seven men/or one of General 
Lee's! 

Can any candid thinker analyze these results and then believe 
Grant a strategist — a great soldier — anything but a pertinacious 
fighter? Can one realize that anything but most obstinate bungling 
could have swung such an army round in a complete circle — at a loss 
of over one-half of its numbers — to a point it could have reached in 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 337 

twenty-four hours, without any loss whatever ? For the soldiers of 
the North, in this disastrous series of blunders, fought with constancy 
and courage. Beaten day after day by unfailing troops in strong works, 
they ever came again straight at those impregnable positions, against 
which obstinate stolidity, or blind rage for blood, drove them to the 
slaughter. Hancock's men especially seemed to catch inspiration from 
their chivalric leader. Broken and beaten at the Wilderness — deci- 
mated at Spottsylvania, they still were first in the deadly hail of 
Cold Harbor — breaking our line and holding it for a moment. Sedg- 
wick and Warren, too — though the victim of unjust prejudice, if not 
of conspiracy — managed their corps with signal ability, in those cease- 
less killings into which Grant's " strategy" sent them. 

Nor was the immense superiority of numbers already shown, all. 
For this main advance — like every other of General Grant's — had co- 
operating columns all around it. Add to the men under his immedi- 
ate command, those of the adjunct forces under his inspiration — 
Butler, 35,000, Hunter, 28,000 and Sigel, 10,000 — and there foots up 
a grand total of 307,000 men! 

We may, therefore, consider that General Lee, in the summer cam- 
paign of 1864, kept at bay and nullified the attack of 307,000 men 
with scarcely one-fifth their number; not exceeding 63,000!^ 

While Grant was engaged in his pertinacious failures to flank Lee, 
General Sheridan — whose fame as a cavalry leader was already in the 
mouths of men in such pet names as "Little Phil" and " Cavalry 
Sheridan " — made a raid of considerable proportions toward Rich- 
mond. Flanking Lee upon the right, he proceeded over the North 
and South Anna, damaging the railroads at Beaver Dam and Ashland 
stations. Thence he moved toward Richmond, but was met at Yellow- 
Tavern by General Stuart with a small body of his cavalry and a 
hastily-collected force of infantry. A sharp engagement resulted in 
forcing the enemy off; when he passed down the James to Turkey 
Island, where he joined Butler's forces. 

*Sonie time after the notes were made, from which these figures are condensed, two ar- 
ticles on Grant's campaign appeared in print— one in the New Yoik " World" the other, by 
llr. Hugh Pleasants, in " The Laud U^e Lin>e " magazine. Writing from diametrically op- 
posite standpoints, with data gathered from opposing sottrces, Mr Pleasants and the 
" Il^arld " very nearly agree m their figuring ; and it was gratifying to this author to find 
that both corroborated the above estimates to within very inconsiderable numbers. Later 
historical papers have not materially changed them ; save, perhaps, some southern claims 
still further to reduce Lee's army. 



338 Four Year's in Rebel Capitals. 

jjut the figlit had one result far more serious to the South — the 
death of General J. E. B. Stuart — the gallant and popular leader of 
Confederate cavalry; so ill to be spared in those days of watchful 
suspense to come, when General Lee keenly felt the loss of "the 
■eyes of the army." 

During the whole fight the sharp and continuous rattle of car- 
bines, broken by the clear boom of field artillery, was distinctly 
heard in Richmond ; and her defenseless women were long uncertain 
what the result would be. They knew nothing of the force that was at- 
tacking, nor of that which was defending their homes ; every man was 
away save the aged and maimed — and the tortures of doubt and sus- 
pense were added to the accustomed strain of watching the end of 
the fight. When the news came there was deep thankfulness ; but it 
was solemn and shadowed from the sorrow that craped the victory. 

Meantime, General Sigel had threatened the Valley with a" heavy 
force ; but, in mid-May he had been met by General Breckinridge 
and was defeated with such loss of men and munitions, that he re- 
treated precipitately across the Shenandoah. The co-operation of 
Sigel was virtually at an end. 

But the more important co-operation had been equally unsuccess- 
ful. Simultaneously with Grant's passage of the Rapidan, General 
Butler, with an army of 35,000 men and a fleet of iron-clads, 
double-enders, gunboats and transports sufficient for a war with 
England, sailed up the James. This force was intended to proceed 
direct to Richmond, or to march into undefended Petersburg, as the 
case might seem best to warrant. The land forces disembarked at 
Bermuda Hundred and, after fortifying heavily on the line of How- 
lett's House, made serious demonstrations direct on Drewry's Bluff. 
Butler supposed that, the defenses being entirely uncovered by the 
drain of men for Lee's army, he could carry them with ease. In this 
hope he relied much upon the powerful aid of the fleet ; but Admiral 
Lee, ascending in a double-ender, lost his pioneer-boat, the ''Com- 
modore Jones" and very nearly his own flag-ship, by a torpedo, op- 
posite Signal Station. This stopped the advance of the fleet, as the 
river was supposed to be sown with torpedoes. 

Nowise daunted, General Butler — like the true knight and chival- 
rous leader his entire career proves him to be — drew his line closer 
round the coveted stronghold. But on the i6th of May, Beauregard 
.sallied out and struck the hero of New Orleans so suddenly and so 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 339 

sharply that he drove him, with heavy loss and utter demoralization, 
clear from his advanced lines to Bermuda Hundred. Only the mis- 
carriage of a part of the plan, entrusted to a subordinate general, 
saved Butler's army from complete destruction. 

As it was, he there remained "bottled up," until Grant's peculiar 
strategy had swung him round to Petersburg; and then the "bottle- 
imp " was released. 

Seeing himself thus foiled on every hand — his magnificent plans 
utterly crushed, and his immense numbers unavailing — Grant struck 
into new combinations. Hunter had already penetrated into West 
Virginia as far as Staunton; and hounding on his men with the 
savagery of the bloodhound, was pushing on for Lynchburg and 
the railroad lines of supply adjacent to it. Grant at once detached 
Sheridan with a heavy force, to operate against the lines from Gor- 
donsville and Charlottesville. 

Simultaneously he, himself, was to strike a resistless blow at 
Petersburg; and thus with every avenue of supply cut off, the 
leaguered Capital must soon — from very weakness — drop into eager 
hands stretched out to grasp her. 

On the 1 6th and 17th June, there were sharp and heavily-sup- 
ported attacks upon portions of the Confederate line before Peters- 
burg. The expectation evidently was to drive them in by sheer 
weight ; for it was known only that part of Lee's forces had crossed 
the river, and the line was one of immense extent — requiring three 
times his whole force to man it effectively. 

But, as ever before, General Grant underrated his enemy ; and, as 
ever before, his cherished theory of giving six lives for one to gain his 
point failed. Both attacks were heavily repulsed. Still holding to 
that theory, however, Grant attacked the whole Confederate front at 
dawn of the i8th. Driven back with heavy slaughter, the men were 
again sent in. Four times that day they rallied and came well up to 
the works ; and four times they were sent back reeling and bleeding. 
Even Grant's obstinacy could not drive them again into certain de- 
struction ; and the assault on Petersburg had failed utterly, at the cost 
of 14,000 men for the experiment. 

On that same day, Hunter was driven back from an assault on 
Lynchburg, and sent in disgraceful rout through West Virginia. 

Hampton, too, had done his share as ever in the long war. He 
had caught Sheridan at Trevellian's Station, and compelled him to 



34° Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

retreat and entirely abandon his part of Grant's new programme j 
and a little later he came upon Kautz and Wilson — in a railroad raid 
below Petersburg — and defeated them disastrously, capturing their 
trains, artillery and a large proportion of their men. 

Thus, by July, these rough and repeated lessons had taught evi^n 
General Grant that hammering with flesh and blood upon earthworks 
was too costly ; that barn-burning and railroad-tearing cavalry were 
not effectual to reduce the city that had so laughed to scorn his 
brilliant tactics of the left flank ! 

A more disgusted, if not a wiser man, he sat down and fortified 
for a regular siege ; as fully convinced as ever that the blood of the 
soldiers was the seed of the war ; as fixed in his theory that he could 
spare seven lives for one and gradually by this fearful "swapping, 
with boot," reduce the capital he had failed to win by soldierly 
methods or skillful combination. 

And the southern people felt that was the test to be applied to 
them now. Bayonet and steel, rapine and torch had failed ; but now 
the process of pulverizing was to come. "Southern blood!" was 
General Grant's war-cry — "Southern blood by the drop, if it take 
rivers of ours. Southern lives by the score — and we can well pay 
for them with the hundred!" 

And, looking the alternative squarely in the face, the southern 
people for the last time girded their loins for the shock; feeling 
they could do what men might and when they could no longer do — 
they could die ! 

Once more the tide of battle had rolled away from Richmond; 
but it surged up, redder and rougher, against her sister city. And 
staunch little Petersburg braced herself to meet its advancing waves 
— ever offering to them her dauntless breast and ever riding above 
them, breathless but victorious. Old men with one foot in the grave 
— boys with one foot scarce out of the cradle, stood side by side, with 
the bronzed veterans of Lee's hundred fights. Women sat quiet, the 
shells of Grant's civilized warfare tearing through their houses and 
through the hospitals. And fearless for themselves, they worked 
steadily on, nursing the wounded and the sick; giving from their 
daily-decreasing store with self-forgetfulness ; encouraging the weak 
by their presence and their courage. 

But not alone the fierce sounds immediately around them claimed 
the attention of the people of the Capital. From North Georgia 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 341 

came the hoarse echo of renewed strife; and they felt, in sober 
truth, more immediate anxiety for the result there than at their own 
doors. Inured to danger and made familiar with its near approach, 
the people of Virginia looked calmly forward to the most fearful 
shock of battle, if it was nothing more. They knew the crushing 
force of Grant's numbers, but the danger was tangible and they could 
see a possible issue out of it, through blood and sacrifice. But they 
knew and felt that Atlanta was the back door to Richmond. Let the 
enemy once enter that and divide the spinal column of the Confed- 
eracy, and what hope was there ! For a brief space the maimed and 
dying body might writhe with final strength; the quivering arms 
strike fierce, spasmodic blows; but no nourishment could come — the 
end must be death — and death from inanition! 

The people knew and felt this fully. They were perfectly aware 
that, should Atlanta fall and the enemy penetrate to our rear lines of 
communication, the cause was lost. We might make a fierce resist- 
ance for the moment ; but without supplies, all organized plan must 
cease. And the wildest hope indulged in that event was the possi- 
bility of a detached and guerrilla warfare that would make the coun- 
try untenable. 

Therefore, every eye was turned toward Dalton, where Johnston's 
little army now was — every ear was strained to catch the first echo of 
the thunder about to roll so ominously among the Georgia mountains. 

Upon General Grant's elevation to the chief command. General W. 
T. Sherman had been left in charge in the West. Not discouraged 
by the failure of Grant's quadruple advance, two months before, 
Sherman divided his army — like that operating on the Rapidan — 
into three corps. Thomas, leading the center, or direct advance ; 
Schofield, the left on the North-east, and McPherson the right on 
the South-west — he moved upon Dalton, almost simultaneously with 
Grant's passage of the Rapidan. And like Grant, he essayed a 
flank movement; but with far different result. 

There was another point of similarity — the great disparity of num- 
bers. Sherman could not have had in all, far short of 80,000 men ; 
while Johnston's greatest exertions could not collect at Dalton an ef- 
fective force of 35,000. Many of these, too, were local troops and 
raw levies, green and undisciplined ; while Sherman's forces were the 
flower of the western army. 

Such were the points of similarity ; but there was one great differ- 



342 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

ence known to the Confederate leaders and people. Sherman would 
use every advantage of strategy and combination, rather than attempt 
the sledge-hammer style of attack developed by Grant. And there 
was more to be dreaded from his quiet and cautious approach — with 
its accompanying care for human life, that would preserve his army 
— than from any direct assault, however vigorous. This was proved 
at the very outset ; for his advance on Dalton was a piece of military 
tact that — unlike Grant's at the Wilderness — was founded upon sound 
calculation. McPherson was thrown so far round to the South-west 
as seriously to threaten Johnston's communications ; and by the 8th 
of June, the latter was forced to evacuate Dalton and retire down 
Resaca Valley toward the line of the Etowah river. 

This movement was accomplished with quiet and perfect ease ; 
keeping ever a steady front to the enemy, pressing rapidly on. 

Feeling that the fate of the whole cause was now vested in the 
little army left him to defend the great key — Atlanta — Johnston was 
great enough to resist the opportunities for glorious battle ; to give 
up, without a struggle — which could only entail resultless waste of 
men — the rich tracts so valuable to us ; to offer himself to the con- 
demnation of unthinking censure — all to insure the safety of that 
vital organ of Confederate life. 

On the 14th June, the enemy pressed heavily against temporary 
works in Resaca Valley and was twice repulsed, with heavy loss. 
Then Johnston turned upon him and gained a decisive advantage — 
driving him two miles. On the two succeeding days, his attempts 
amounted to scarcely more than skirmishes ; and on the third our 
troops resumed, unmolested, their retreat along the line of the Etowah. 
By the end of the month Johnston had taken up a strong position, 
with his center resting upon Kenesaw Mountain; while the enemy 
had thrown up works, at some points nearer even than those at 
Petersburg. 

At dawn on the 27th, Sherman attacked along the whole line, 
directing his main strength to Kenesaw Mountain. He was repulsed 
decisively on both flanks and with especial slaughter in the center; 
losing over 3, 500 men. Next day Cleburne's division defeated McPher- 
son's corps in a severe fight, inflicting even heavier loss than it had 
sustained at Kenesaw Mountain. But these fights — while retarding 
the enemy's advance and causing him a loss three times our own — 
were all nullified by Sherman's- effective use of thot flau'king process,. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 343. 

so strangely misused by his rival in Virginia. Those movements were 
but those of pav/ns upon the board; while the serious check to 
Johnston at Dalton — the flank movement upon his right — was repeated 
here. On the 4th of July he was flanked out of his mountain fast- 
nesses and was falling back upon Atlanta. 

There is no stronger proof of the hold General Johnston had upon 
the masses of the people and of their respectful confidence in his great 
ability, than their reception of this news. They had watched his 
long retreat almost without a fight ; had seen the enemy penetrate 
almost to the heart of Georgia, occupying rich tracts of our most pro- 
ductive land, just ready for the harvest; and finally had heard him 
thundering at the very gates of Atlanta — to enter which they felt were 
death to us. And yet the people never murmured at their general, 
nor at the army he commanded. There was an unshaken conviction 
that he was doing his best ; that his best was the best. But the Gov- 
ernment had not forgotten nor forgiven General Johnston; and for 
wholly inexplicable reasons, he was summarily transferred from his 
command and replaced by General Hood, on the i8th of July. 

People could not see the ground for Johnston's removal; for 
he had followed the very same line that had earned General Lee 
the wildest enthusiasm of the people, even while it gave him almost 
supreme control of the military power of the Confederacy. Lee had 
fallen back to his proper base — so had Johnston. The former had 
faced far greater odds and had inflicted far heavier punishment upon 
the enemy ; but the latter had contended against strategic ability rather 
than blind force — against human sagacity rather than brute courage. 
And if Johnston had inflicted less damage, his wise abstinence from 
battle had saved many lives, invaluable now ; and in the end he had 
placed his army in almost impregnable works around the great prize 
he was to guard. Foreseeing the result of his opponent's strategy, he 
had nullified it by seeking the position into which he would finally 
have been forced. 

So far, the Virginia and the Georgia campaigns had been markedly 
similar in conduct and result. Both armies, driven by overwhelm- 
ing numbers, had drawn their lines around their last strongholds; 
and there kept their enemy at bay. And had General Johnston been 
allowed to reap the reward of his clear foresight and patient absti- 
nence — who can tell but the festering Lazarus might yet have risen 
whole, and defied the vast wealth of aggression hurled against it? 



344 Four Years i7i Rebel Capitals. 

The universal and outspoken disgust of the people at the removal 
of Johnston, was in no sense referable to iheir objection to his suc- 
cessor. General Hood had forced their highest admiration, and 
bought their warmest wishes, with his brilliant courageous and his free- 
13^-offered blood. They knew him to be dauntless, chivalrous and be- 
loved by his men ; and, even if untried in a great command, they 
were willing to give hmi the benefit of the doubt. His first move- 
ments, too — seemingly so brilliant and dashing, compared to the 
more steady but resultful ones of Johnston — produced a thrill of pride 
:and hope with all the people, save the thoughtful few, who felt we 
could not afford now to buy glory and victory unless it tended to the 
one result — safety. 

On the 20th July Hood assumed the offensive. He struck the 
enemy's right heavily and with success; repeating the blow upon his 
-extreme left, on the 2 2d. The advantage on both days was with the 
Confederates ; they drove the enemy from his works, captured several 
thousand prisoners, and killed and wounded over 3,000 men. But 
there was no solid gain in these fights ; and, the enemy shifting his 
line after them further to the east, there was another furious battle on 
the 28th day of July. 

In this Hood was less successful, losing heavily and gaining little 
■or no ground. The results of the fights at Atlanta were briefly these : 
Hood had broken the long and sagacious defensive course ; the peo- 
ple were perhaps inspirited at the cost of over 4,000 invaluable men; 
and the enemy was taught that we were too weak to drive him from 
his line, or even to make any solid impression on him. 

Feeling this — and secure in a line of communication with his base 
—Sherman sat doggedly and grimly down before Atlanta. He felt he 
•could wait. 

But the end came, before even the Federal leader could have ex- 
pected. After the fights at Atlanta, Hood feared the cutting of his 
■communications. He was fearful, lest the system that had forced 
Johnston from Dalton and Kenesaw Mountain might be made avail- 
able against him here ; and the very means he had adopted to prevent 
it precipitated the disaster. He divided his forces into two distinct 
armies — sending one, under Lieutenant-General Hardee, to Jones- 
.boro, twenty-two miles away ! 

Sherman, aware of the movement — which had in fact resulted 
from his threatening of Hood's flank— forced his superior numbers 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 345 

wedge-like into the gap, and effectually separated the wings. Then 
he struck in detail, Hardee, at Jonesboro, failed to make any im- 
pression upon him on the ist of September, while Hood — weakened 
and unable to check his movements on the left — was forced, on the 
31st August, to decide upon the evacuation of Atlanta! 

This fatal movement was accomplished on the evening of the ist 
of September, without further loss ; but the key to the Confederate 
cause — the sole barrier to the onward sweep of Sherman to the ocean 
— was in his hands at last ! 

There may have been causes operating on General Hood that were 
not known to the people; for the results and their motive was shrouded 
in silence. His dispatch announcing the fall of the most important 
point was very brief; stating in a few lines that Hardee, having failed 
against the enemy at Jonesboro, while he could not oppose his flank 
movement at Atlanta, he had given up that city. Even later — when 
General Hood published his report of the Atlanta campaign — he dif- 
fers in essential points from General Johnston, and neither his theories 
nor their carrying out are made comprehensible to the public. 

There was a terrible shock to the people of the South in the fall of 
Atlanta. They knew its importance so fully that its loss was the 
more keenly felt. There came sudden revulsion from tlie hope that 
had begun once again to throb in the public pulse. The loud murmurs 
that had arisen after other defeats were wanting now ; but a sullen and 
increasing gloom seemed to settle over the majority of the people. It 
was as though they were stunned by the violence of the shock and felt 
already its paralyzing influence. It was in vain that a ten days' truce 
was granted by the victorious enemy, during which Mr. Davis visited 
the army and spoke brave words of future victory. The people had 
now lost all faith in Mr. Davis and his methods ; and they sullenly 
refused to accept the happy auguries of victory he drew from crushing 
defeat. Even the army itself — while still doggedly determined to 
strike its hardest to the bitter end — began to feel that it was fighting 
against hope. 

And in that ten days' truce there was little chance for those worn 
and wasted battalions to recuperate. There were no fresh men to 
send to their aid; few, indeed, were the supplies that could be 
forwarded them. But they looked into the darkness ahead steadily 
and calmly; they might not see their path in it, but they were ready 
to march without the path. And even as they watched and waited, 



346 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

so at Petersburg and Richmond a small but sleepless David watched 
the grim Goliath, stretched in its huge bulk before their gates. Cease- 
lessly the trains flashed back and forth over the iron link between 
those two cities — now Siamese-twinned with a vital bond of endur- 
ance and endeavor. Petersburg, sitting defiant in her circle of fire, 
worked grimly, ceaselessly — with what hope she might ! and Rich- 
mond worked for her, feeling that every drop of blood she lost was 
from her own veins as well. 

And so for many weary months the deadly strain went on ; and the 
twin cities — stretched upon the rack — bore the torture as their past 
training had taught the world they must — nobly and well ! 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 347' 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

DIES IR/E — DIES ILLA. 

It is nowise within the scope of these sketches to detail that 
memorable siege of Petersburg, lasting nearly one year. It were 
needless to relate here^ how — for more than ten months — that long 
southern line of defense, constantly threatened and almost as con- 
stantly assailed, was held. Men know now that it was not by 
strength, but by sleepless watch and dogged endurance, that less than 
30,000 worn men — so dotted along works extending near forty 
miles, that at points there was one soldier to every rod of earth- 
work — held their own, even against the earlier onsets. Men now 
realize why the Federal general — failing in every separate effort to 
buy a key-position, even at the cost of six lives for one — was forced 
to sit down sullenly and wait the slow, but sure, process of attrition. 

These matters are now stamped upon the minds of readers, on 
both sides of the Potomac. In the North they had voluminous re- 
ports of every detail ; and the cessation of interest elsewhere gave 
full leisure to study them. In the South, 30,000 earnest historians 
from the trenches were sought, each one by eager crowds ; and the 
story of every cannonade and skirmish and charge, told in honest but 
homely words, was burned into the memory of intent listeners. 

Slowly that summer wore itself away. Steadily that bloody his- 
tory traced itself out ; punctuated, now by many a fierce and sudden 
rush of crowding Federals — ever beaten back with frightful loss ; 
again by rare sorties from our line, when our leaders saw the chance 
to strike some telling blow. 

But spite of care in those leaders and superhuman endurance in 
the men, the southern troops were worn with watching and steadily 
melting away. Close, ceaseless fighting thinned their ranks; there 
were no more men — even the youngest of the land, or its first borns 
— to take the places of the lost veterans. General Grant's words 
were strictly true — "the South had robbed the cradle and the 



348 Four Years iyi Rebel Capitals. 

grave!" The boasted army of the Norih, led by her latest-chosen 
champion and strategist, was kept at bay by a skeleton of veterans, 
barely held together by the worn-out sinews and undeveloped muscle 
of old age and infancy. 

Then the fall of Atlanta came ! 

The people were not to be deceived by platitudes about " strategic 
purposes," or empty nothings about "a campaign to nullify it." 
They had gotten now beyond that ; and saw the terrible blow that 
had been dealt them in all its naked strength. They felt that an 
army that had failed to check Sherman, when it was behind strong 
works, would hardly do so in the open field. They felt that he could 
now at his leisure bore into the coveted heart of our territory ; that 
the long-attempted "bisection of the rebellion" was accomplished; 
that further aid, or supplies, from that section was impossible. And 
then the people of Richmond turned once more with unfailing pride, 
but lessening hope, toward the decreasing bands that still held their 
own gates secure. But they saw how the deadly strain was telling 
upon these ; that the end was near. 

But even now there was no weak yielding — no despairing cry 
among the southern people. They looked at the coming end steadily 
and unflinchingly; and now, for the first time, they began to specu- 
late upon the possible loss of their beloved Capital. It was rumored 
in Richmond that General Lee had told the President that the lines 
were longer than he could hold ; that the sole hope was to evacuate 
the town and collect the armies at some interior point for a final 
struggle tnat might yet sever the bonds, ever closing tighter and 
tighter upon us. And the rumor added that Mr. Davis peremptorily 
and definitely rejected this counsel ; declaring that he would hold the 
city, at any cost and any risk. 

For once — whatever cause they had to credit these reports — the 
popular voice was louder on the side of the unpopular President than 
on that of the idolized general. The tremendous efforts to capture 
the Capital ; the superhuman exertions made to defend it in the last 
four years, had made RicJwiond the cause! People argued that if 
Richmond was lost, the State of Virginia was lost, too ; that there was 
no point in North Carolina where the army could make a stand, for 
even that "interior line" then became a frontier. Beyond this the 
people felt the moral effect of such a step; and that the army, as such, 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 349- 

could never be carried out of Virginia. And with the ceaseless dis- 
cussion of this question, came the first yearnings for peace propositions. 

To this extremity, the South had been confident and fixed in her 
views. Cheated of her hopes of foreign intervention, she had yet 
believed her ability to work out her own oracle ; through blood and 
toil — even ruin, perhaps — but still to force a peace at last. But now 
the popular voice was raised in answer to the vague words of peace 
that found their way over the Potomac. If there be any desire in the 
North for cessation of this strife, said the people, for God's sake let 
us meet it half way. Even the Congress seemed impressed with the 
necessity of meeting any overtures from the North, before it was too 
late and our dire strait should be known there. But it was already 
too late; and the resultless mission of Mr. Stephens to Fortress Mon- 
roe proved that the Washington Government now saw plainly that it 
could force upon us the terms it made the show of offering. 

The failure of this mission, no less than the great mystery in which 
the Government endeavored to wrap it, produced a decided gloom 
among the thinking classes ; and it reacted upon the army as well. 
The soldiers now began to lose hope for the first time. They saw 
they were fighting a hydra; for as fast as they lopped off heads in 
any direction, fresh ones sprang up in others. They began, for the 
first time, to feel the contest unequal ; and this depressing thought — 
added to the still greater privations following the loss of Georgia — 
made desertion fearfully common, and threatened to destroy, by that 
cause, an army that had withstood every device of the enemy. 

And so the fall wore into winter ; and the news from General 
Hood's lines only added to the gloom. After the truce of ten days, 
following the fall of Atlanta, Hood had moved around and gotten al- 
most in Sherman's rear. For a moment there was great exultation, 
for it was believed he would destroy the enemy's communidations and 
then attack him, or force an attagk on ground of his own choos- 
ing. Great was the astonishment and great the disappointment, 
when Hood moved rapidly to Dalton and thence into Alabama, leav- 
ing the whole country south of Virginia entirely open, defenseless, and 
at Sherman's mercy. 

And, as usual, in moments of general distress, Mr. Davis was 
blamed for the move. He had, it was said, removed Joe Johnston 
at the very moment his patient sagacity was to bear its fruits ; he had 



35° Foiw Yca^-s in Rebel Capitals. 

been in Hood's camp and had of course planned this campaign — a 
wilder and more disastrous one than the detachment of Longstreet, for 
Knoxville. Whosesoever may have been the plan, and whatever 
may have been its ultimate object, it failed utterly in diverting Sher- 
man from the swoop for which he had so long hovered. For, while 
the small bulwark of Georgia was removed — and sent in Quixotic 
joust against distant windmills — the threatening force, relieved from 
all restraint, and fearing no want of supplies in her fertile fields, 
pressed down, " Marching thro' Georgia." 

Meantime Hood, with no more serious opposition than an occa- 
sional skirmish, crossed the Tennessee at Florence, about the middle 
of November. The enemy fell back before him, toward Nashville, 
until it seemed as if his intent was to draw Hood further and further 
away from the real point of action — Sherman's advance. On the 
30th of November, however, Thomas made a stand at Franklin ; and 
then resulted a terrific battle, in which the Confederates held the field, 
with the loss of one-third of the army. Six of our generals lay amid 
their gallant dead on that unhappy field ; seven more were disabled 
by wounds, and one was a prisoner. The enemy's loss was stated at 
far less than ours ; and he retired into Nashville, to which place our 
army laid siege on the ist of December. 

Weakened by the long march and more by the terrible losses of 
Franklin ; ill-supplied and half-fed. Hood's army was compelled to 
rely upon the enemy's want of supplies driving him out. On the 
15th of December he attacked our whole line, so furiously as to break 
it at every point. Hood's defeat was complete; he lost his whole 
artillery — over fifty pieces — most of his ordnance and many of his 
supply trains. In the dreadful retreat that followed. General For- 
rest's vigorous covering alone saved the remnant of that devoted 
army; and on the 23d of January, 1865 — when he had brought them 
once more into temporary safety — General Hood issued a farewell 
order, stating that he was relieved at his own request. 

Gallant, frank and fearless even in adversity, he did not shirk the 
responsibility of the campaign ; declaring, that disastrous and bitter 
as it had been, he had believed it best. 

So ended all real resistance in the South and West. The enemy 
had gained the back door to Richmond, had shattered its supports 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 351 

and had marched on to the rear of those strongholds that had so long 
defied his power from the sea. 

It was but a question of time, when Charleston and Savannah 
should fall ; and even the most hopeful could see that Virginia was 
the only soil on which resistance still walked erect. 

Meanwhile, the winter was passing in Richmond in most singular 
gayety. Though the hostile lines were so close that the pickets could 
"chaff" each other without raising their voices, still both had learned 
that direct attacks in front were not practicable; and such was the 
state of the roads all around Petersburg, that no movement out of 
works could be attempted. Therefore more active fighting had for 
the moment ceased; numbers of young officers could get to Rich- 
mond, for a few days at a time ; and these came worn and tired 
from camp and famished for society and gayety of some sort. And 
the younger ladies of Richmond — ready as they ever were to aid 
and comfort the soldier boys with needle, with bandage, or with lint 
— were quite as ready now to do all they could in plans for mutual 
pleasure. 

They only felt the strain was for the moment remitted ; they recked 
not that It was to come to-morrow for the final crush ; and they en- 
joyed to-day with all the recklessness of long restraint. 

Parties were of nightly occurrence. Not the brilliant and gener- 
ous festivals of the olden days of Richmond, but joyous and gay 
assemblages of a hundred young people, who danced as though the 
music of shells had never replaced that of the old negro fiddler 
— who chatted and laughed as if there were no to-morrow, with its 
certain skirmish, and its possible blanket for winding-sheet. For the 
beaux at these gatherings were not only the officers on leave from 
Petersburg ; the lines drawn close to the city furnished many an ac- 
quisition, who would willingly do ten miles in and out, on horseback 
through the slush and snow, for one deux te^nps with " somebody in 
particular." 

And many a brave fellow had ridden direct from the ball-room 
into the fight. I can well recall poor H. now, as he looked when last 
I saw him in life. Ruddy and joyous, with his handsome face one 
glow of pleasure, he vaulted gaily to his saddle under the bright 
moon at midnight. Curbing his restive horse, and waving a kiss to 



352 Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 

the bright faces pressed against the frosty pane, bis clear au rcvoir! 
echoed through the silent street, and he was off. 

Next morning a country cart brought his lifeless body down Main 
street, with the small blue mark of a bullet in the middle of the 
smooth, clear, boyish brow. Never leaving his saddle, he had ridden 
into a picket fight, and a chance shot had cut short the life of so 
much promise. 

But it is not meant that these parties entailed any waste of those 
supplies, vital alike to citizen and soldier. They were known as 
"Starvations;" and all refreshments whatever were forbidden, save 
what could be drawn from the huge pitcher of "Jeems' River" 
water, surrounded with its varied and many-shaped drinking utensils. 
Many of these, even in the houses of the best provided, were of 
common blown glass, with a greenish tinge that suggested a most 
bilious condition of the blower. The music was furnished by some of 
the ancient negro minstrels — so dear to the juvenile southern heart in 
days gone by; or more frequently by the delicate fingers of some 
petted and favored belle. And never, amid the blare of the best 
trained bands, the popping of champagne, and the clatter of forks 
over pate defoies gras, was there more genuine enjoyment and more 
courtly chivalry to the beau sexe, than at these primitive soirees. 

The "Starvations" were not the only amusements. Amateur 
theatricals and tableaux again became the rage in midwinter; and 
talent of no contemptible grade was displayed on many an impromptu 
stage. And that especial pet horror of supersensitive godliness — 
the godless German cotillion — even forced itself into the gayeties of 
the winter. Great was the wrath of the elect against all amusements 
of the kind — but chiefest among outrages was this graceless German. 
But despite the denunciations, the ridicule, and even the active inter- 
vention of one or two ministers, the young soldiers and their chosen 
partners whirled away as though they had never heard a slander or 
a sermon. 

I have already endeavored to show how a certain class in Rich- 
mond deprecated gayety of all kinds two years before. These, of 
course, objected now ; and another class still was loud and violent 
against it. But, said the dancers, we do the fighting — we are the 
ones who are killed — and if we don't object, why in the deuce should 
you? Cooped up in camp, with mud and musty bacon for living, and 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. , 353 

the whistling of Minies and whooing of shells for episode, we long 
for some pleasure when we can get off. This is the sole enjoyment 
we have, and we go back better men in every way for it. 

This was rather unanswerable argument; and the younger ladies 
were all willing to back it ; so malgre long faces and a seeming want 
of the unities, the dancing went on. 

We have heard a great d^eaX post-bellum bathos about that strange 
mixture of gay waltzes, and rumble of dead-cart and ambulance ; 
but one must have heard the sounds together before he can judge; 
and no one who was not in and of that peculiar, and entirely 
abnormal, state of society, can understand either its construction, or 
its demands. 

But the short spasm of gayety, after all, was only the fitful and 
feverish symptom of the deadly weakness of the body politic. It 
was merely superficial ; and under it was a fixed and impenetrable 
gloom. The desertions from the army were assuming fearful propor- 
tions, that no legislation or executive rigor could diminish; supplies 
of bare food were becoming frightfully scarce, and even the wealthiest 
began to be pinched for necessaries of life ; and over all brooded the 
dread cloud of a speedy evacuation of the city. 

Every day saw brigades double-quicking back and forth through 
the suburbs ; the continuous scream of steam-whistles told of move- 
ment, here and there ; and every indication showed that the num- 
bers of men were inadequate to man the vast extent of the lines. 
As the spring opened, this became more and more apparent. There 
was no general attack, but a few brigades would be thrown against some 
ill-defended work here ; and almost simultaneously the undefended 
lines there would have a force hurled against them. It almost seemed! 
that the enemy, aware of our weakness, was determined to wear out 
our men by constant action, before he struck his heavy blow. How 
dear the wearied, starving men made these partial attacks cost him, 
already his own reports have told. 

March came, and with it, orders to remove all government prop- 
erty that could possibly be spared from daily need. First the 
archives and papers went ; then the heavier stores, machinery and 
guns, and supplies not in use; then the small reserve of medical stores 
was sent to Danville, or Greensboro. And, at last, the already short. 
23 



354 - Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

supplies of commissary stores were lessened by removal — and the 
people knew their Capital was at last to be given up ! 

The time was not known — some said April, some the first of 
May; but the families of the President and Cabinet had followed the 
Stores; the female Department clerks had been removed to Colum- 
bia — and there was no doubt of the fact. After four years of dire 
endeavor and unparalleled endurance, the Capital of the South was 
lost! 

In their extremity the people said little, but hope left them utterly. 
In the army or out, there were few, indeed — and no Virginians — 
but believed the cause was lost when the army marched away. 

Richmond was Virginia — was the cause ! 

With Sherman already in possession of Charleston and Savannah, 
and the army unable to do aught but retreat sullenly before him — 
with Virginia gone, and the Confederacy narrowed down to North 
Carolina, a strip of Alabama and the trans-Mississippi — what hope 
was left? 

After General Johnston had been relieved at Atlanta, the De- 
partment had managed, on one reason or another, to shelve him 
until now. The public voice was loudly raised against the injustice 
done the man they admired most of all the bright galaxy of the 
South ; and even Congress woke from its stupor long enough to de- 
mand for the great soldier a place to use his sword. This was in 
January ; but still the government did not respond, and it was not 
until the 23d February that he was restored to command. Then — 
with the shattered remnant of his army, augmented, but not 
strengthened by the fragments of flying garrisons — he could only 
fall back before the victorious progress of that "Great March" he 
might effectually have checked, on its threshold at Atlanta. 

Deep gloom — thick darkness that might be felt — settled upon the 
whole people. Hope went out utterly, and despair — mingled with 
rage and anguish as the news from the "Great March" came in — 
look its place in every heart. But in every heart there was bitter 
sorrow, humiliation — but no fear. As Richmond became more and 
more empty, and the time to abandon her drew nearer and nearer, 
her people made what provision they might to meet the enemy they 
had scorned so long. One class and one alone, showed any sign of 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 355 

lear — the human vultures so long fattened on the dead and dying — 
the speculators. 

With every preparation long since made for the event — with cel- 
lars and attics stored with tobacco and other merchandise — with Con- 
federate blood-money converted into gold — these Shylocks now shiv- 
ered in anticipation of the coming greenbacks, for abject dread of 
the bluebacks that were to bring them. There is one gleam of sat- 
isfaction through the gloom of the great fire — it partly purified the 
city of these vermin and the foul nests they had made themselves. 

All seemed ready during March, and the people watched every 
movement, listened for every sound, that might indicate actual evac- 
uation. Each morning the city rose from its feverish sleep, uncer- 
tain whether, or not, the army had withdrawn in the stillness of the 
night. 

During all this fitful suspense there was no general fight along 
the lines, and from time to time hope would flicker up, and for the 
moment throw the shadows into shape of a possible victory — a saving 
blow for the storm-racked ship of state, now her decks had been cleared 
for desperate action. Then it would down, down again, lower than 
before. 

With the end of March the enemy made new combinations. His 
whole disjointed attacks had been against the South Side road, the 
main artery of supply and retreat. He had ceased organized attacks 
on the works, and sought only to strike the communications. Now, 
Sheridan, with a formidable force, was sent to Five Forks ; and Rich- 
mond heard, on the first day of April, of desperate fighting between 
him and Pickett. 

Next morning, the 2d April, rose as bright a Sunday as had shone 
in all Richmond that spring. The churches were crowded, and 
plainly-dressed women — most of them in mourning — passed into their 
pews with pale, sad faces, on which grief and anxiety had both set 
their handwriting. There were few men, and most of these came 
in noisily upon crutches, or pale and worn with fever. 

It was no holiday gathering of perfumed and bedizened godliness, 
that Sunday in Richmond. Earnest men and women had come to 
the house of God, to ask His protection and His blessing, yet a little 
longer, for the dear ones that very moment battling so hotly for the 
worshipers. 



356 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

In the midst of a prayer at Dr. Hoge's church, a courier entered 
softly, and advancing to Mr. Davis, handed him a telegram. Noise- 
lessly, and with no show of emotion, Mr. Davis left the church, fol- 
lovved by a member of his staff. A moment after another quietly 
said a few words to the minister; and then the quick apprehensions 
of the congregation were aroused. Like an electric shock they felt 
the truth, even before Dr. Hoge stopped the services and informed 
them that Richmond would be evacuated that night ; and counseled 
they had best go home and prepare to meet the dreadful to-morrow. 
The news spread like wildfire. Grant had struck that Sunday morn- 
ing — had forced the lines, and General Lee was evacuating Peters- 
burg! 

The day of wrath had come. 

Hastily the few remaining necessaries of the several departments 
were packed, and sent toward Danville, either by railroad or wagon. 
Ordnance supplies, that could not be moved, were rolled into the 
canal ; commissary stores were thrown open, and their hoarded con- 
tents distributed to the eager crowds. And strange crowds they 
were. Fragile, delicate women staggered under the heavy loads they 
bore to suffering children at home ; the pale wife clutched hungrily 
at the huge ham, or the bag of coffee, for the wounded hero, pining 
at home for such a delicacy. Children were there with outstretched 
hands, crying for what they could carry; and hoary-headed men 
tugged wearily at the barrels of pork, flour, or sugar they strove to 
roll before their weak arms. 

Later in the evening, as the excitement increased, fierce crowds 
of skulking men, and course, half-drunken women, gathered before 
the stores. Half-starved and desperate, they swore and fought among 
themselves over the spoils they seized. Orders had been given to 
destroy the whisky at once ; but, either from lingering tenderness, or 
from the hurry of the movement, they were only partially obeyed. 

Now the uncontrolled swarms of men and women — especially the 
wharf rats at Rockett's where the navy storehouses were — seized the 
liquor and became more and more maddened by it. In some places 
where the barrels were stove, the whisky ran in the gutters ankle 
deep; and here half-drunken women, and children even, fought, 
to dip up the coveted fluid in tin pans, buckets, or any vessel avail- 
able. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals, 357 

Meanwhile, preparation went on rapidly; the President and Cab- 
inet left for the South — General Breckinridge, Secretary of War, 
alone remaining to direct the details of evacuation. Everything was 
ready for the few remaining troops to withdraw, leaving the works on 
the northern side of the James unoccupied, before daylight. Then 
the officer with the burning party went his rounds, putting the torch 
to every armory, machine-shop and storehouse belonging to the Gov- 
ernment. By midnight these had begun to burn briskly; one lurid 
glare shot upward to the sky, from the river ; then another and an- 
other. The gunboats had been fired, and their crews, passing to the 
shore equipped for camp, followed the line of the retreating army up 
the river bank. 

Who, that was in it, will ever forget that bitter night? Husbands 
hastily arranged what plans they might, for the safety of families they 
were forced to leave behind ; women crept out into the midnight, to 
conceal the little jewelry, money or silver left them, fearing general 
sack of the city and treachery of even the most trusted negroes. 
For none knew but that a brutal and drunken mob might be let loose 
upon the hated, long-coveted Capital, in their power at last ! None 
knew but that the black rule of Butler might be re-enacted — excelled; 
and women — who had sat calm and restful, while the battle of Seven 
Pines and the roar of Seven Days, and the later Cold Harbor, shook 
their windows — now broke down under that dreadful parting with the 
last defenders of their hearths ! Death and flame they had never 
blanched before ; but the nameless terrors of passing under the 
Yankee yoke vanquished them now. 

Pitiful were leave-takings of fathers with their children, husbands 
with new-made brides, lovers with those who clung to them in 
•even greater helplessness. Ties welded in moments of danger and 
doubt — in moments of pleasure, precious from their rarity — all must 
be severed now, for none knew how long — perhaps forever! For 
man, nor woman, might pierce the black veil before the future. 
Only the vague oppression was there, that all was over at last; that 
days to come might mean protracted, bloody mountain warfare — cap- 
tivity, death, separation eternal ! 

So men went forth into the black midnight, to what fate they 
dreamed not, leaving those loved beyond self to what fate they dared 
not dream ! 



35 8 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

But even in that supreme hour — true to her nature and true to her 
past — the woman of Richmond thought of her hero-soldier; not of 
herself. The last crust in the home was thrust into his reluctant 
hand; the last bottle of rare old wine slyly slipped into his haver- 
sack. Every man in gray was a brother-in-heart to every woman that 
night! 

Long after midnight, I rode by a well-remembered porch, where 
all that was brightest and gayest of Richmond's youth had passed 
many happy hours. There was Styles Staple ; his joyous face clouded 
now, his glib tongue mute — with two weeping girls clinging to his 
hands. Solemnly he bent down; pressed his lips to each pure 
forehead, in a kiss that was a sacrament — threw himself into their 
mother's arms, as she had been his own as well ; then, with a wrench, 
broke away and hurled himself into saddle. There was a black 
frown on Staple's face, as he rode up by me ; and I heard a sound — 
part sob; more heart-deep oath — tear out of his throat. If the 
Recording Angel caught it, too, I dare swear there was no record 
against him for it, when — thirty hours later — he answered to his name 
before the Great Roll-Call ! For no more knightly lips will ever 
press those pure brows; no more loyal soul went to its rest, out of 
that dire retreat. 

Two hours after midnight, all was ready; and all was still, save the 
muffled roll of distant wagons and, here and there, the sharp call of 
a bugle. Now and again, the bright glare, above the smoke round 
the whole horizon, would pale before a vivid, dazzling flash ; followed 
by swaying tremble of the earth and a roar, hoarsely dull ; and one 
more ship of the little navy was a thing of the past. 

Later still came to the steady tramp of soldiers — to be heard for 
the last time in those streets, though its echo may sound down all 
time ! The last scene of the somber drama had begun ; and the 
skeleton battery-supports filed by like specters, now in the gloom, 
now in the glare of one of the hundred fires. No sound but the 
mufiled word of command came from their ranks; every head was 
bowed and over many a cheek — tanned by the blaze of the fight and 
furrowed by winter night-watches — the first tear it had ever known 
rolled noiselessly, to drop in the beloved dust they were shaking from 
their feet. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 359 

Next came gaunt men, guiding half-starved horses that toiled 
along with rumbling field-pieces; voiceless now and impotent, as 
once, to welcome the advancing foe. And finally the cavalry pickets 
came in, with little shov/ of order ; passed across the last bridge and 
fired it behind them. Over its burning timbers rode General 
Breckinridge and his staff; — the last group of Confederates was 
gone ; — Richmond was evacuated ! 

Dies ircE. — dies ilia ! 



360 Four Years iti Rebel Capitals, 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

AFTER THE DEATH BLOW WAS DEALT. 

Just as dawn broke through the smoke-eddies over the deserted 
Capital, the morning after its evacuation, two carriages crept through 
the empty streets, toward the fortifications. In them — grave-faced 
and sad — sat the Mayor of Richmond and a committee of her coun- 
cil, carrying the formal surrender to the Federal commander on the 
northern bank of the James. 

Many a sad, a few terrified, faces peered at them through closed 
shutters ; but the eager groups about the fires, striving still to secure 
scraps from the flames, never paused for a glance at the men who 
bore the form of the already accomplished fact. 

Before long, eager watchers from Chimborazo Heights saw blue- 
coats rise dim over the distant crest. Then came the clatter of cav- 
alry, sabers drawn and at a trot ; still cautiously feeling their way into 
the long-coveted stronghold. Behind followed artillery and infantry 
in compact column, up the River Road, through Rockett's to Capitol 
Square. There they halted ; raised the Stars-and-stripes on the staff 
from which the Stars-and-bars had floated — often in their very sight 
— for four weary, bitter years ! 

It was a solemn and gloomy march ; little resembling the people's 
idea of triumphal entry into a captured city. The troops were quiet, 
showing little elation ; their officers anxious and watchful ever ; and 
dead silence reigned around them, broken only by the roar and hiss 
of flames, or the sharp explosion as they reached some magazine. 
Not a cheer broke the stillness; and even the wrangling, half-drunken 
bummers round the fires slunk sullenly away; while but few negroes 
showed their faces, and those ashen-black from indefinite fear ; their 
great mouths gaping and white eyes rolling in curious dread that took 
away their faculty for noise. 



Fozir Years in Rebel Capitals. 361 

By the time Weitzel's brigade of occupation had been posted — and 
several regiments massed on the Capitol — the fire had become gen- 
eral. Intending only to destroy munitions and supplies of war — the 
firing party had been more hasty than discreet. A strong breeze sprang 
up, off the river, and warehouse followed warehouse into the line of 
the flames. Old, dry and crammed with cotton, or other inflammable 
material, these burned like tinder ; and at many points, whole blocks 
were on fire. 

A dense pall of smoke hovered low over the entire citj'j and 
through it shone huge eddies of flames and sparks, carrying great 
blazing planks and rafters whirling over the shriveling buildings. Lit- 
tle by little these drew closer together ; and by noon, one vast, livid 
flame roared and screamed before the wind, from Tenth street to 
Rockett's ; licking its red tongue around all in its reach and drawing 
the hope — the very life of thousands into its relentless maw ! 

Should the wind shift, that rapidly-gaining fire would sweep up- 
town and devour the whole city; but, while the few men left looked 
on in dismayed apathy, deliverance came from the enemy. The 
regiments in Capitol Square stacked arms; were formed into fire- 
squads ; and sped at once to points of danger. Down the deserted 
streets these marched ; now hidden by eddying smoke — again show- 
ing like silhouettes, agamst the vivid glare behind them. Once at 
their points for work, the men went at it with a will; and — so 
strong was force of discipline — with no single attempt at plunder 
reported ! 

Military training never had better vindication than on that fearful 
day ; for its bonds must have been strong indeed, to hold that army, 
suddenly in possession of city so coveted — so defiant — so deadly, for 
four long years. 

Whatever the citizens may vaguely have expected from Grant's 
army, what they received from it that day was aid — protection — 
safety ! Demoralized and distracted by sorrow and imminent dan- 
ger; with almost every male absent — with no organization and no 
means to fight the new and terrible enemy — the great bulk of Rich- 
mond's population might have been houseless that night, but for the 
disciplined promptitude of the Union troops. The men worked 
with good will ; their officers, with ubiquitous energy. If the fire 
could not be stayed, at any particular point, a squad entered each 



362 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

house, bore its contents to a safe distance ; and there a guard was 
placed over them. 

Sad and singular groups were there, too. Richmond's best and 
tenderest nurtured women moved among their household gods, hastily 
piled in the streets, selecting this or that sacred object, to carry it in 
their own hands — where ? Poor families, utterly beggared, sat wring- 
ing their hands amid the wreck of what was left, homeless and hope- 
less ; while, here and there, the shattered remnant of a soldier was 
borne, on a stretcher in kindly, if hostile, hands, through clouds of 
smoke and mourning relatives to some safer point. 

Ever blacker and more dense floated the smoke-pall over the de- 
serted city; ever louder and more near roared the hungry flames. 
And constantly, through all that dreadful day, the whoo ! of shells 
from magazines, followed by the thud of explosion, cut the dull roar 
of the fire. For — whether through negligence or want of time — 
charged shells of all sizes had been left in the m.any ordnance stores 
when the torch was applied. These narrow brick chambers — now 
white hot and wtth a furnace-blast through them — swept the heaviest 
shells like cinders over the burning district. Rising high in air, with 
hissing fuses, they burst at many points, adding new terrors to the 
infernal scene ; and some of them, borne far beyond the fire's limit, 
burst over the houses, tearing and igniting their dry roofs. 

Slowly the day, filled with its hideous sights and sounds, wore on; 
and slowly the perseverance of man told against the devouring ele- 
ment. The fire was, at last, kept within its own bounds ; then grad- 
ually forced backward, to leave a charred, steaming belt between it 
and the unharmed town. Within this, the flames still leaped and 
writhed and wrangled in their devilish glee; but Richmond was now 
comparatively safe, and her wretched inhabitants might think of food 
and rest. Little had they recked of either for many a dread hour 
past! 

The provost marshal, that unfailing adjunct to every occupation, 
had fixed his office at the court-house. There a mixed and singular 
crowd waited gloomily, or jostled eagerly, for speech of the autocrat 
of the hour. Captured officers stood quietly apart, or peered out 
earnestly through the smoke drifts, while their commitments to Libby 
Prison were made out ; anxious and wan women, of every sphere in 
life, besieged the clerk preparing "protection papers;" while a fussy 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 363 

official, of higher grade, gave assurance to every one that guards 
should be placed about their homes. For the deserted women of 
Richmond dreaded not only the presence of the victorious enemy, 
but also that of the drunken and brutalized " bummers" and desert- 
ers who stayed behind their own army. 

The guards were really stationed as promptly as was practicable ; 
the fire-brigade men were sent to quarters; pickets in blue patroled 
the outskirts ; and, by nightfall, the proud Capital of the Southern 
Confederacy was only a Federal barrack ! 

For two days after their entrance the Union army might have 
supposed they had captured a city of the dead. The houses were 
all tightly closed, shutters fastened and curtains drawn down ; and 
an occasional blue-coated sentry in porch, or front yard, was the 
sole sign of life. In the streets it was little different. Crowds of sol- 
diers moved curiously from point to point, large numbers of negroes 
mixing with them — anxious to assist their new found brotherhood, 
but wearing most awkwardly their vested rights. Here and there a 
gray jacket would appear for a moment — the pale and worn face 
above it watching with anxious eyes the unused scene ; then it would 
disappear again. This was all. The Federals had full sweep of the 
city — with its silent streets and its still smoking district, charred and 
blackened; where, for acre after acre, only fragments of walls re- 
mained, and where tall chimney stacks, gaunt and tottering, pointed 
to heaven in witness against the useless sacrifice. 

For two days this lasted. The curious soldiers lounged about the 
silent town, the burned desert still sent up its clouds of close, fetid 
smoke ; the ladies of Richmond remained close prisoners. Then 
necessity drove them out, to seek {oo<\, or some means to obtain it; 
to visit the sick left behind ; or to make charitable visits to those who 
might be even less provided than themselves. 

Clad almost invariably in deep mourning — with heavy veils inva- 
riably hiding their faces — the broken-hearted daughters of the Capital 
moved like shadows of the past, through the places that were theirs 
no longer. There was no ostentation of disdain for their conquerors 
— no assumption of horror if they passed a group of Federals — no 
affected brushing of the skirt from the contact with the blue. There 
was only deep and real dejection — sorrow bearing too heavily on 
brain and heart to make an outward show — to even note smaller 



364 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

annoyances that might else have proved so keen. If forced into 
collision, or communication, with the northern officers, ladies were 
courteous as cold; they made no parade of hatred, but there was 
that in their cold dignity which spoke plainly of impassable barriers. 

And, to their credit be it spoken, the soldiers of the North re- 
spected the distress they could but see ; the bitterness they could 
not misunderstand. They made few approaches toward forcing iheir 
society — even where billeted in the houses of the citizens, keeping 
aloof and never intruding on the family circle. 

For several days the water-approaches to the city could not be 
cleared from the obstructions sunk in them ; all railroad communica- 
tion was destroyed, and the whole population was dependent upon 
the slender support of the wagon trains. Few even of the wealthiest 
families had been able to make provision ahead ; scarcely any one 
had either gold, or greenbacks; and suffering became actual and 
pinching. Then came the order that the Federal commissary was to 
issue rations to those needing them. Pinching themselves, as they 
did; preferring to subsist on the slenderest food that would sustain 
life, to accepting the charity of the enemy — many of those suffering 
women were driven by sheer hunger — by the threatened starvation of 
their children, or of the loved wounded ones near them — to seek the 
proffered bounty. They forced their way into the surging, fighting 
crowd of greasy and tattered negroes, of dark-faced " bummers " and 
"loyal" residents — and they received small rations of cornmeal and 
codfish; bearing them home to be eaten with what bitter seasoning 
they might of tears from pain and humiliation. 

The direst destitution of the war had been nothing to this. With 
their own people around them, with hope and love to sustain them, 
the women of Richmond did not wince under the pinch of want. But 
now, surrounded by enemies, with not a pound of flour, or a cent of 
currency, actual starvation — as well as humiliation — stared them in 
the face. The few who went to draw rations, sat down in blank de- 
spair. They could not make up their minds to go again. The fewer 
still, who had the least surplus from immediate wants, distributed it 
freely ; and a cup of sugar from a slender stock was bartered here for 
a few slices of the hoarded ham, or a pound or two of necessary 
meal. 

Meantime, sutlers, peddlers and hucksters swarmed in like locusts, 



Four Years m Rebel Capitals. 365, 

on the very first steamers up the river. They crowded Broad street, 
the unburned stores on Main, and even the alleyways, with great 
piles of every known thing that could be put up in tin. They had 
calculated on a rich harvest ; but they had reckoned without their 
host. There was no money in Richmond to spend with them ; and 
after a profitless sojourn, they took up their tin cans, and one by one 
returned North — certainly wiser and, possibly, better men. It was 
peculiar to note the universality of southern sympathy among these 
traders. There was scarcely one among them who didn't think the 
war '"a darned shame;" they were intensely sympathetic and all 
came from South of the Pennsylvania line. But the supporters, either 
of their principles, or their trade, were the few lucky negroes who 
could collect " stamps," in never so small qualities ; and to such the 
sutlers were a joy forever. 

Shut off entirely from any communication with their retreating 
troops and mingling so little with their captors, Richmond people got 
only most startling and unreliable rumors from the army. Clinging, 
with the tenacity of the drowning, to the least straw of hope, they 
would not yet give up utterly that army they had looked on so long as 
invincible — that cause, which was more than life to them ! Though 
they knew the country around was filled with deserters and strag- 
glers ; though the Federals had brigades lying round Richmond in 
perfect idleness — still for a time the rumor gained credit that General 
Lee had turned on his pursuer, at Amelia Court House, and gained a 
decisive victory over him. Then came the more positive news 
that Ewell was cut off with 13,000 men; and, finally, on the 
9th of April, Richmond heard that Lee had surrendered. Surely as 
this result should have been looked forward to — gradually as the 
popular mind had been led to it — still it came as a blow of terrific 
suddenness. The people refused to believe it — they said it was a 
Yankee trick; and when the salute of one hundred guns rang out 
from forts and shipping, they still said, bitterly, it was a ruse to make 
them commit themselves. 

Gradually they came to accept the inevitable ; and, as the last ray 
of hope died out, its place was filled with the intense yearning ta 
know the fate of those lost and loved ones — to know if they had died 
at the bitter ending, or lived to be borne away into captivity. 
Forgetting pride, hostility — all but their anxiety for those so precious 



366 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

to them now — the women caught at every shred of information ; 
questioned ignorant soldiers eagerly; and listened patiently to the 
intelligible news the officers were only too willing to give. And at 
last these rumors assumed tangible form — there was no longer any 
room to doubt. General Lee, weakened by desertion and breaking 
down of his men — by General Ewell's capture and by the sense of 
hopelessness of further resistance, had on the morning of the 9th 
of April, surrendered 24,000 men — including the volunteer citizens, 
and the naval brigade of all the Richmond ship's-crews — and with 
them 8,000 muskets ! Such, too, was the condition of the horses that 
the Federals refused even to drive them away from their stands. 
Little need, indeed, had there been for those extra brigades around 
the city. 

Then Richmond, sitting like Rachel in her desolation, waited for 
the return of her vanquished — heroes still to her. News came of the 
general parole; and every sound across the river — every cloud of 
dust at the pontoon bridge — was the signal for a rush to doorstep and 
porch. Days passed and the women — not realizing the great difficul- 
ties of transportation — grew impatient to clasp their loved ones once 
more to their hearts. False outcries were made every hour, only to 
result in sickening disappointment and suspense. At last the evening 
of the third day came and, just at dusk, a single horseman turned 
slowly into deserted Franklin street. 

Making no effort to urge his jaded beast, travel-stained and weary 
himself, he let the reins fall from his hands and his head droop upon 
his chest. It was some time before any one noticed that he wore the 
beloved gray — that he was Major B., one of the bravest and most 
staunch of the noble youth Richmond had sent out at the first. Like 
electricity the knowledge ran from house to house — "Tom B. has 
come! The army is coming !" 

Windows, doorsteps and curbstones became alive at the words — 
each woman had known him from childhood — had known him joyous, 
and frank, and ever gay. Each longed to ask for husband, son, or 
brother; but all held back as they saw the dropped head, and felt his 
sorrow too deep to be disturbed. 

At last one fair wife, surrounded by her young children, stepped 
into the road and spoke. The ice was broken. The soldier was sur- 
rounded ; fair faces quivering with suspense, looked up to his, os 



Four Years hi Rebel Capitals. 367 

soft voices begged for news of — "somebody's darling;" and tender 
hands even patted the starved beast that had borne the hero home ! 
The broad chest heaved as it would burst, a great sob shook the stal- 
wart frame, and a huge teardrop rolled down the cheek that had 
never changed color in the hottest flashes of the fight. And then the 
sturdy soldier — conquering his emotion but with no shame for it — 
told all he could and lightened many a heavy heart. And up to his 
own door they walked by his side, bareheaded and in the roadway, 
and there they left him alone to be folded in the embrace of the 
mother to whom he still was "glorious in the dust. " 

Next morning a small group of horsemen appeared on the further 
side of the pontoons. By some strange intuition, it was known that 
General Lee was among them, and a crowd collected all along the 
route he would take, silent and bareheaded. There was no excite- 
ment, no hurrahing; but, as the great chief passed, a deep, loving 
murmur, greater than these, rose from the very hearts of the crowd. 
Taking off his hat and simply bowing his head, the man great in ad- 
versity passed silently to his own door; it closed upon him, and his 
people had seen him for the last time in his battle harness. 

Later others came, by scores and hundreds; many a household 
was made glad that could not show a crust for dinner ; and then for 
days Franklin street lived again. Once more the beloved gray was 
everywhere, and once more bright eyes regained a little of their 
brightness, as they looked upon it. 

Then suddenly the reins were tightened. On the morning of the 
14th, the news of Lincoln's murder fell like a thunderclap upon 
victor and vanquished in Richmond. At first the news was not cred- 
ited ; then an indignant denial swelled up from the universal heart, 
that it was for southern vengeance, or that southern men could have 
sympathy in so vile an act. The sword and not the dagger was the 
weapon the South had proved she could use ; and through the length 
and breadth of the conquered land was a universal condemnation of 
the deed. 

But the Federal authorities — whether sincere in their belief, or not 
— made this the pretext for a thorough change of policy in Rich- 
mond. 

First came uniform orders, that none of the insignia, or rank 
marks, of the South should be worn — a measure peculiarly oppressive 



368 . Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

to men who had but one coat. Then came rules about "congrega- 
tions of rebels," and three Confederates could not stand a moment 
on a corner, without dispersion by a provost-guard. 

Finally came the news of Johnston's surrender — of the last blow 
to the cause, now lost indeed. Still this fact had been considered a- 
certain one from the date of Lee's surrender ; and it bore none of 
the crushing weight that had made them refuse to believe in the latter. 
Confident as all were in General Johnston's ability to do all that man 
might, they still knew his numerical weakness; that he must ere 
long be crushed between the upper and nether millstones. So this 
news was received with a sigh, rather than a groan. 

There was a momentary hope that the wise covenant between 
Generals Johnston and Sherman, as to the basis of the surrender, 
would be indorsed by the Government ; but the result of its refusal 
and of the final surrender on the 13th — was after all little different 
from what all had expected. Even the wild and maddened spirits, 
who refused to accept Lee's cartel, and started to work their way to 
Johnston, could have had no hope of his final success in their calmer 
moments. 

But Johnston's surrender did not lift the yoke from Richmond, in 
any degree. Police regulations of the most annoying character were 
imposed; the fact of a parole bearing any significance was entirely 
ignored ; no sort of grace was shown to its possessor, unless he took 
the oath ; and many men, caught in Richmond at this time and far 
from home, were reduced to distress and almost starvation by the re- 
fusal of transportation. 

All this the southern people bore with patience. They submitted 
to all things but two : they would_not take the oath and they would 
_not mix socially with their conquerors. In that respect the line was 
as rigorously drawn in Richmond, at that time, as ever Venice drew 
it against the Austrian. Not that any attempt was omitted by the 
Federals to overcome what they called this " prejudice." There was 
music in Capitol Square, by the best bands of the army, and the 
ladies were specially invited by the public prints. Not one went; 
and the officers listened to their own music in company with numbers 
of lusty black emancipated, who fully felt themselves women and sis- 
ters. Next it was given out that the negroes would not be admitted; 
but then the officers listened alone, and finally gave it up. Failing in 



Foiir Years in Rebel Capitals. 369 

public, every effort — short of rudeness and intrusion, which were 
never resorted to — was made to effect a social lodgment in private. 
But no Federal uniform ever crossed a rebel threshold, in those days, 
save on business. The officers occupied parts of many houses ; but 
they were made to feel that the other part, occupied by the household, 
was private still. 

Another infliction, harder to bear, was the well-meant intrusion of 
old friends from the North. Pleasure parties to Richmond were of 
constant occurrence ; and for the time quite eclipsed in popularity, 
with the Washington idlers, the inevitable pilgrimage to Mt. Vernon. 
Gaily dressed and gushing over in the merriment of a party of pleas- 
ure, these visitors often sought out their ante-bellum friends; and then 
and there would condone the crime of rebellion to them — sitting in 
desolation by the ashes of their household gods. It is not hard to 
understand how bitter was proffered forgiveness, to those who never 
admitted they could have been wrong ; and perhaps the soft answer 
that turneth away wrath, was not always given to such zealously offi- 
cious friends. 

There was little bitterness expressed, however much may have fer- 
mented in the hearts of the captured ; and, as a general thing, the 
people were grateful for the moderation of the Yankees, and appre- 
ciated the good they had done at the fire. But, deeper than any bit- 
terness could have sunk, was that ingrained feeling that there were 
two peoples that these could never again mingle in former amity, till 
oil and water might mix. The men especially — and with much apT 
parent reason — were utterly hopeless of the future ; and, collecting in 
knots, they would gloomily discuss the prospect of emigration, as if 
that were the sole good the future held. There can be little doubt 
that had the ability been theirs, a large majority of the young men 
of the South would have gone abroad, to seek their fortunes in new 
paths and under new skies. Luckily, for their country, the com- 
mander at Richmond failed to keep his agreement with the paroled 
officers ; and — after making out rolls of those who would be granted 
free permission and passage to Canada, England or South America — 
those rolls were suddenly annulled and the whole matter given up. 
Thus a number of useful, invaluable men who have ever since fought 
the good fight against that outrage — the imposition of negro domi- 
nance over her — were saved to the South. 
24 



37© Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

And that good fight, begun in the natural law of self-preservation, 
has eventuated to the interests of a common country. For no one 
who does not intimately understand the character of the negro — his 
mental and moral, as well as his physical, constitution — can begin to 
comprehend the sin committed against him, even more than against 
the white man, by putting him in the false attitude of equality with, 
or antagonism to, the latter. 

No one, who did not move among the negroes, immediately after 
conquest of the South — and who did not see them with experience- 
opened eyes — can approach realization of the pernicious workings of 
that futile attempt. 

Writing upon the inner details of the war and its resulting action 
upon the morale of the southern people, omission can not be made 
of that large and unfortunate class ; driven — first by blind fanaticism, 
later by fear of their own party-existence — into abnormal condition 
by the ultra radicals. The negro rapidly changed; "equality" frit- 
tered away what good instincts he had and developed all the worst, 
innate with him. It changed him from a careless and thriftless, but 
happy and innocent producer, into a mere consumer, at best ; often 
indeed, into a besotted and criminal idler, subsisting in part upon 
Nature's generosity in supplying cabbage and fish, in part upon the 
thoughtlessness of his neighbor in supplying chickens and eggs. 

Yet — so powerful is result of habit; on so much foundation of 
nature is based the Scythian fable — the negroes of the South, imme- 
diately succeeding the surrender, used the new greatness thrust upon 
them with surprising innocence. Laziness, liquor and loud assevera- 
tions of freedom and equality were its only blessings claimed ; and 
the commission of overt acts, beyond those named, were rare enough 
to prove the rule of force of habit. Lured from old service for a 
time, most of them followed not far the gaudy and shining Will-o'- 
the-Wisp; and almost all — especially the household and personal ser- 
vants — soon returned to "Ole Mas'r" once more, sadder and wiser 
for the futile chase after freedom's joys. But, even these were partly 
spoiled and rendered of far less practical use to themselves, or lo 
their employers. 

The *• negro question" to-day is made merely a matter of politics, 
rather than one of political economy. At the date of the Confed- 
eracy's death, it is a matter of history. 



Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 371 

Gradually — by very slow degrees — people in Richmond — as else- 
where in the South, further removed from victor's contact — began to 
grow so far accustomed to the chains imposed upon them, that they 
seemed less unbearably galling. Little by little — forced by the neces- 
sities of themselves and of those still dearer — men went to work at 
new and strange occupations ; doing not what they would, but what 
they could, in the bitter struggle with want for their daily bread. 
But, spite of earnest resolve and steady exertion, 

"There was little to earn and many to keep — " 
and every month it seemed to grow harder and harder to make the 
bare means of life. And not alone did the men work — hard and 
steadily, early and late. As the women of the South had been the 
counsellors, the comforters, the very life of the soldiers when the 
dark hour was threatened ; so they proved themselves worthy help- 
meets now that it had come. 

No privation was too great, no work too unaccustomed for them 
to undergo. Little hands that had never held even a needle until the 
v/ar, now wrought laboriously at the varied — sometimes even menial 
— occupatk)ns that the hour demanded. And they worked, as they 
had borne the war — with never a murmur ; with ever a cheering word 
for the fellow-laborer beside them — with a bright trust in the future 
and that each one's particular " King should have his own again." 

And here the author's task is ended — albeit far from completed; 
for so little has been told, where there was so much to tell. But, 
there was no longer a Rebel Capital, to offer its inside view; and 
what followed the fall — were it not already a twice-told tale — has no 
place in these pages. Disjointed sketches, these have perchance 
told some new, or interesting, facts. Certes, they have omitted 
many more, well worth the telling, noted during those four unparal- 
leled years; but plainly not compressible, within the limits of one 
volume. 

Happily, the trials, the strain, the suffering of those years remain 
with us, but as a memory. That memory is, to the South, a sacred 
heritage which unreasoning fanaticism may not dim — which Time, 
himself, shall not efface. To the North that memory should be cleared 
of prejudice and bitterness, becoming thus a lesson priceless in worth. 

Happily, too, the sober second thought of a common people, 



372 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 

aided by the loyalty of the South — to herself and to her plighted faith 
— has changed into recemented union of pride and of interest, that 
outlook from the crumbled gates of Richmond, which made her peo- 
ple groan in their hearts: 

Solitudinem faciunt appellantque paceml 



FINIS. 



APPENDIX. 



FIRST AND LAST BLOOD OF THE WAR. 

While the battle of Bethel is recorded in the foregoing pages as the first decided fight 
■of the war between the States, it may leave erroneous impression not to note the date of 
" first blood" really shed in action on southern soil. In the report of the Adjutant-gen- 
eral of the State of Virginia, for iS66, occurs this entry : 

J. Q. Marr, graduated July 4. 1S46. I.awyer. Member of the Virginia Convention. 
Knlered military service as Captain of Virginia Volunteers, April i, 1861. Killed at 
Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, May 13, i86i. First blood of the war. 

Naturally, many conflicting statements as to the last effective shot of the long struggle 
were made and received as true. The most reliable would appear to be the following, 
reproduced from a paper printed by the boys of Mr. Denson's school, in the village of 
I'iltsboro, N. C, in 1866: 

The accomplished author of that series of interesting papers, " The I^ast Ninety Days 
of the War in North Carolina," published in The IValchman, New York, states that the last 
blood of the war was shed near the Atkins plantation, a few miles from Chapel Hill, on the 
14th April, 1S65. In a later number of the same paper, a member of the First Tennes- 
see Cavalry says that it is a mistake ; that companies f; and F, of the same regiment to 
which he belonged, skirmished sharply with the Federals on the 15th, and claims that this 
was the last blood shed. Both are in error : Uiere was a skirmish near Mt. Zion church, 
two miles south-east of Pittsboro, North Carolina, between a body of Wheeler's cavalry 
and a party of Federals, on the 17th of .April ; two Yankees were woimded. and three 
others, with several horses, captured. There was other skirmishing in the neighborhood 
about this lime, and as late as the 29th (two days after General Johnston surrendered), a 
squad of Federal cavalry rode through Pittsboro, firing \ipon the citizens and returned 
.soldiers, and receiving their fire in return. These men were pursued and overtaken near 
Haw river, where a skirmish occurred, in which two of the Yankees were killed and two 
others wounded, one mortally. This Haw river incident is a familiar and well authenti- 
cated one and most probably it really showed the last of the long bloodshed. 



WHY NO PURSUIT AFTER MANASSAS. 
Attention has frequently been drawn to the restiveness of the entire southern people, 
under alleged neglect to seize golden opportunities for pressing the enemy, after Con- 
federate successes. Most frequently repeated of all these charges, is that which puts upon 
the shoulders of Jefierson Davis the onus of delay— atid of all resulting evil— after the 
first victory on Manassas Plains. This charge receives semi-official sanction, from ex- 
Vice-President Stephens ; for his history of the war plainly asserts that to the President 
was due " the failure of the Confederate troops to advance after the battle of Manassas." 
The following correspondence between the two men most interested in that mooted 
question may therefore be read with interest by all candid thinkers : 

Richmond, Va., Novembers, 1861. 
General J. E. Johnston, Commanding Department of the Potomac : 

Sir : Reports have been and are being widely circulated to the eflfect that I prevented 
General Beauregard from pursuing the enemy after the battle of Manassas, and had 
subsequently restrained him from advancing upon Washington City. Though such 
statements may have been made merely for my injury, and in that view their notice might 
be postponed to a more convenient season, they have ac(iuired importance from the fact 
that they have served to create distrust, to excite disappointment, and must embarrass the 
administration in its further efforts to re-enforce the armies of the Potomac, and generally 
to provide for the public defense. 

For these public considerations, I call upon you as the commanding general, and as a 
party to all the conferences held by me on the 21st and 22d of July, to say whether I 
obstructed the pursuit of the enemy after the victorj' at Manassas, or have ever objected to 
an advance or other active operation which it was feasible for the army to undertake? 
Very respectfully yours, etc., Jefferson Davis, 

(373) 



274 Appendix. 

Headquarters, Centri-.vi[.i,i:, November lo, iSfii. 
To His Excellency, tlu President: 

Sir : I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 3d instant, in which you call 
upon me, as the " Commanding General, and as a party to all the conferences held by you 
on the 2ist and 22d of July, to say : 

" Whether I obstructed the pursuit after the battle of Manassas. 

"Or have ever objected to an advance, or other active operations which it was feasible 
for the army to undertake." 

To the first question I reply : No. The pursuit was " obstructed " by the enemy's 
troops at Centreville, as I have stated in my official report. In that report I have also said 
why no atlvance was made upon the enemy's capital (for reasons) as follows : 

The apparent freshness of the United States troops at Centreville, which checked our 
pursuit ; the strong forces occ\ipying the works near Georgetown, Arlington and Alexan- 
dria ; the certainty, too, that General Patterson, if needed, would reach Washington with 
bis army of more than 30,000, sooner than we could; and the condition and inadequate 
means of the army in ammunition, provision and transportation, prevented any serious 
thoughts of advancing against the Capital. 

To the second question, I reply, that it has never been feasible for the army to advance 
further than it has done — to the line of Fairfax Courthouse, with its advanced posts at 
Upton's, Munson's and Mason's Hills. After a conference at Fairfax Courthouse with the 
three senior General officers, you announced it to be impracticable to give this army the 
strength which those officers considered necessary to enable it to assume the offensive. 
Upon which, I drew it back to its present position. 

Most respectfully your obedient servant, J. K. Johnston. 

A true copy : 

G. W. C. Lei!, Col. and A. D. C. 



THE FIRING UNDER THE WHITE FLAG, IN HAMPTON ROADS. 
Reference has been made in these pages, to the peculiar circumstances of the wound- 
ing of Flag-Lieutenant Robert D. Minor, in the "Merrimac" fight on the 8th Maicli, 
1S62. The official report of F'leet-Captaiu Franklin Buchanan distinctly states the facts 
and formulates the charge, accepted by llie author. From that lengthy and detailed offi 
cial document is reproduced verbatim this 

extract from report of flag-officer buchanan. 

Naval Hospital, 

Norfolk, March 27, 1862. 
To Hon. S. R. Mallow, Secretary of the Naw : 

* * :1c'*'* * * * * * :|c ,>: :;c 

While the Virginia was thus engaged in getting her position, for attacking the Con- 
gress, the prisoners state it was believed on board that ship that we had hauled off; the 
men left their guns and gave three cheers. They were soon sadly undeceived, for a few 
minutes after we opened upon her again, she having run on shore in shoal water. The car- 
nage, havoc and dismay, caused by our fire, compelled them to haul down their colors, 
and to hoist a white flag at their gaff half-mast, and another at the main. The crew in- 
stantly took to their boats and landed. Our fire immediately ceased, and a signal was 
made for the Beaufort to come within hail. I then ordered Lieutenant-Commanding Par- 
ker to take possession of the Congress, secure the officers as prisoners, allow the crew to 
land, and burn the ship. He ran alongside, received her flag and surrender, from Com- 
mander William Smith and Lieutenant Pendergrast, with the side-arms of those officers. 
They delivered themselves as prisoners of war on board the Beaufort, and afterward 
were permitted, at their own request, to return to the Congress, to assist in removing the 
wounded to the Beaufort. They never returned, and I submit to the decision of the De- 
partment whether they are not our prisoners. While the Beaufort and Raleigh were 
alongside the Congress, and the surrender of that vessel h.ad been received from the com- 
mander, she having two white flags flying, hoisted by her own people, a heavy fire was 



Appendix. 375 

rf>;)ened upon them from the shore and from the Congress, killing some valuable officers 
and men. Under this fire the steamers left the Congress; but as I was not informed that any 
injury had been sustained by those vessels at that time, Ivieutenaut-Commanding Parker 
having failed to report to me, 1 took it for granted that my order to him to burn her had 
been executed and waited some minutes to see the smoke ascending from her hatches. 
During this delay we were still subjected to the heavy fire from the batteries, which was 
always promptly returned. 

The steam frigates Minnesota and Roanoke, and the sailing frigate St. Lawrence, had 
previously been reported as coming from Old Point ; but a.s I was determined that the 
Congress should not again fall into the hands of the enemy, I remarked to that gallant 
young officer, Flag-Lieutenant Minor, " that ship must be burned." He promptly volun- 
teered to take a boat and burn her, and the Teazer, Lieutenant-Commanding Webb, wa.^ 
ordered to cover Ihe boat. Lieutenant Minor had scarcely reached within fifty yards 
of the Congress, when a deadly fire was opened upon nim, wounding him severely and 
several of his men. On witnessing this vile treachery, I instantly recalled the boat 
and ordered the Congress destroyed by hot shot and incendiary shell. 

^ « ::< ^< >:< 4: * « 4: « 4: * * 

Fra:^klin Bvchanan, Flag Officer. 



DEPRECIATION OF CONFEDERATE CURRENCY. 
In the chapters on Finance and Dollars and Cents, reference has been made to the 
rapid depreciation of C. S. Treasury notes. The condensed table appended— gathered 
from most reliable data— will explain this more clearly than could a volume : 

RELATIVE VALUE OF GOLD FROM JANrARV I, lS5l, TO MAY 12, 1865. 

1 86 t .—January istto May 1st, 5 per cent.; to October ist, lo per cent.; October 15th, 
12 per cent.; Koveraber 15th, 15 per cent.; December ist, 20 per cent. 

1 862.— January 1st, 20 per cent.; February 1st, 25 per cent.; February 15th, 40 per 
cent.; March ist, 50 per cent.; March 15th, 65 percent.; April 1st. 75 percent.; April 15th, 
80 per cent.; May 1st. 90 per cent.; May 15th, 95 per cent.; June 15th, 2 for i;.August ist, 2. jo 
for i; September 1st, 2.50 for i. 

1 863.— February ist, 3 for i; Febrviary 15th, 3.10 for 1; March ist, 3.25 for i; March 
15th, 5 for 1; May 15th, 6 for i; June ist, 6.50 for i; June 15th, 7.50 for 1; July ist, 8 for i; 
July' 15th, 10 for i; August 15th, 15 for 1; November 15th, 15.50 for i; December 15th, 21 for 1. 

1864.— March 1st, 26 for i; April ist, 19 for 1; May ist, 20 for i; August 15th, 21 for i; 
September 15th, 23 for i; October 15th, 25 for i; November 15th, 28 for i; December ist, 32 
for i; December 31st, 51 for i. 

1 865.— January ist, 60 for i; February ist, 50 for i; April 1st, 70 for 1; April 15th, So 
for i; April 20th, 100 for i; April 26th, 200 for i: April 28th, 500 for i; April 29th, 800 for 1; 
April 30th, 1,000 for i. May ist ilast actual sale of Con federate notes), 1,200 for 1. 



GENERAL LEE'S FAREWELL ORDER TO THE ARMY OF NORTHERN 

VIRGINIA. 
Headquarters Army Northern Virginia, 
GENERAL Order, \ April 10, 1S65. 

No. 9. j 

After four years of arduous ser%-ice, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the 
Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and 
resources. I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have 
remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them ; 
but, feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that would compensate for 
the loss that must have attended the continuance of the contest, I determined to avoid the 
useless .sacrifice of those whose pa.st services have endeared them to their countr>'men. 
By the terms of agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and there 



376 



Appendix. ^ > '^ " J^8 



remain until exchanged. You will take with yon the satisfaction that proceeds from the- 
consciousness of duty well performed ; and I earnestly pray that a merciful C.od will ex- 
tend to you His blessing and protection. With unceasing admiration of your constancy 
and devotion to your country and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous con- 
sideration lor myself, I bid you au aflfectiouate farewell. R. £). Lee, OeneraL 



GENERAL JOHNSTON'S FAREWELL ORDER TO THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE. 

[Headquarters Army Tennessee, 
General Order, > Near Greensboro, N. C, April 27, 1S65. 

No. 18. J 

By the terms of a military convetiticti made on the 26th instant, by MajorGeneral W. T. 
Sherman, United States Army, and General J. E.Jo"hnslon, Confederate States Armj', the 
officers and men of this army are to bind themselves not to take up arms against the 
United States until properly relieved from that obligation, and shall receive guarantees from 
the United States officers against molestation by the United States authorities so long as 
they obsei-ve that obligation and the laws in force where they reside. 

For these objects, duplicate muster-rolls will be made out immediately, and after the 
distribution of the necessary papers, the troops will be marched under their officers to 
their respective States, and there be disbanded, retaining all private property. 

The object of this convention is pacification, to the extent of the authority of the com- 
manders who made it. Events in Virginia which broke every hope of success by war, im- 
posed on its general the duty of sparing the blood of this gallant army and saving our 
country from further devastation and our people from ruin. 

J. E- Johnston, Geueial. 

GENERAL SHERMANS ORDER ON HIS CONVENTION WITH GENERAL 

JOHNSTON. 
Headquarters Military Division op the Mississippi. 
Special Field Order,") In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 27, 1S63. 

No. 65. j 

The General Commanding announces a further suspension of hostilities and a final 
a"-reement with General Johnston, which terminates the war as to the armies under his 
command and the country east of the Chattahoochee. 

Copies of the terms of convention will be furnished Major-Generals Schofield, Gillmore 
and Wilson, who are specially charged with the execution of its details in the Department 
of North Carolina, Department of the South, and at Macon and Western Georgia. 

j, ,^ ******>:■ ^;= ■:■ ::< 

General Schofield will procure at once the necessary blanks, and silpply the Army 
Commanders, that uniformity may prevail ; and great care must be taken that the terms 
and stipulations on our part be fulfilled with the most scrupulous fidelity, whilst those 
imposed on our hitherto enemies be received in a spirit becoming a brave and generous 
army. 

Array Commanders may at once loan to the inhabitants such of the captured mules, 
horses, wagons and vehicles as can be spared from immediate use ; and the Commanding 
Generals of Armies may issue provisions, animals and any public supplies that can be 
spared, to relieve present wants and to encourage the inhabitants to renew their peaceful 
pursuits, and to restore the relations of friendship among our fellow-citizeus and countn,-- 
men. 

Foraging will forthwith cease, and, when necessity or long marches compel the taking 
of forage, provisions or any kind of private property, compensation will be made on the 
spot ; or, when the disbursing oflScers are not provided with funds, vouchers will be given 
in proper form, payable at the nearest Military Depot. 

By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman. 

I,. M. Dayton, Assistant Adjutanl-General. 



vV 



^ 



^"^-^T-pt^y^ 



'/^ 



